Are you sending the right message, or are you just blabbering about your brands?
Don't let your brand fall prey to “blabbering".
In a world where consumers don’t want to be sold, companies need to find new ways to market products and services. They’ve turned to content marketing, which is a lot like the classic 80s arcade game: Whack-a-Mole. There are too many companies just blindly throwing out content with no real strategy or intentionality behind their efforts. It’s like they’re just whacking away at the keyboard, hoping that something sticks. The problem with this approach is twofold:
You can’t scale it
Consumers aren’t going to listen
A scalable content system requires a combination of intention, process, and technology. It starts with a strategy to define what you want your customers to know, believe, and feel after they interact with your brand. This is the message that you want your content to convey. Then you need defined processes for how you will consistently create content that sends that message in a way that resonates with your audience. Finally, you need technology that helps you distribute and amplify those messages across all of the different places where your customers may be looking for information about your brand or services.
People don't read content because they want to know what kind of amazing things your company is up to. They read it because they are trying to solve a problem for themselves; so if you can show them how your product or service can solve that problem, then they'll be interested in learning more.
So instead of just blabbering on and on about what makes your brand so great, try taking a step back from the computer and think about what your audience wants from you. What problems do they have? How does your product or service help them with those problems? And how do you engage with that pain point in an interesting way? The answers to those questions will help you get out of the "me me me" loop and start talking to the people who really matter: Your customers! They want to know why they should care, and why they should choose you over other brands that provide the same services or products.
Your mission statement is the one thing that sets you apart from every other similar company out there. It's what tells customers how you think, how you believe in them, and why they should believe in you. And yet, so many businesses get it wrong—and the way they get it wrong is by going on and on about themselves in their statements. They talk about their own values, their own beliefs, their own goals—and they leave the customer out of it completely. There might be a little bit of "we care" or "we love our customers," but still... it's all about them.
Why would you buy from a company who is always telling you to “Look at me! I’m the best, I am so good!” instead of “I see you, I hear you. I know your problems and I can guide you to solve them.”
See the difference?
When you start using more “You” instead of “Me”, customers will see you. Not as a desperate salesman who just wants to sell you shit, but as a guide who will help you solve their problem and make your life easier. It’s all about the messaging.
Here are the tips to stop blabbering:
Focus on the customer, not the company. It's easy to be excited about your business—we get it! But don't let that excitement overpower the fact that you're actually communicating with people. If you want people to be interested in what you have to say, then talk about them more than you talk about yourself. (Otherwise they'll feel like they're being sold something.)
Use numbers—and other specific details—to back up your message. It is easy to say something that you have but it is hard to prove it without data.
Know your customers. What kind of industry are they in? What are their interests? Which grocery do they shop at? (Okay that’s not necessary haha). But you get my point, if you don’t know who your customer is, you are already losing the game and killing your business. Figure out how you can talk with them and how they will notice you.
If you are talking to a 40 year old banker who works at a corporate office, would you say something like “Say ma-ma! Say da-da! Eaaaaat this food, here comes the airplane! Weeeeeeeee!” No... right? I bet he’ll punch you in the face and think you are crazy. You have to adjust your communication style based on your customers, not based on you. You are selling to them, you are talking to them. Not yourself. So at least, make the effort to know them.
Be human and be authentic - You probably heard this from me so many times and I can’t stress this enough. When you are authentic, you are nailing it. A lot of people are fed up with corporatish style of communication (I’m not saying it’s bad tho) They want to talk to humans. They want you to understand them.
Ultimately, a brand's image is only as good as the conversation surrounding it. So if you want to build an identity that really resonates with your target customers, just remember these four simple tips. And you will be well on your way down the path to building a brand identity worth talking about.
