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There are a lot of ways to tackle the question of how you handle your business image and branding. If your business elicits no emotional response at all, you’re doing it wrong. A business’s image can be more than a slogan and a logo. It can be an identity that people get fully on board with. It can become a rallying point for the most passionate of fans and easily the best tool for marketing. Here’s how you make that image the beacon it deserves to be.
Swim in different ponds
Building profile is the first step. To this end, a lot of businesses fail. They don’t consider the breadth of opportunity they have to reach people. Yes, online marketing, the website, and social media are important. But so are making appearances at trade shows and creating audio and video content to reach your customers in different mediums, too.
Remember your customers
If you want people to get passionate about your business, your business has to get passionate about its people. Not just in market research and targeting the right folks. You have to remember your clients and customers. In ecommerce, it’s easier to build smarter clients that recommend items, for instance. If you deal with people face to face or on the phone, make sure you remember them. Using customer relationship management makes it easy to store customer data and interactions and pull them up whenever necessary.
Get unexpected
A strong marketing message relies on a brand and a message. It’s a promise of some sort of value, whether it’s lifestyle-based, finance-based or anything else. When it comes to how you deliver that message, prepare to get a little out-there. Looking at some creative business ideas, the ones that go viral are the ones that aren’t expected. Those that barely look like ads to begin with, but capture the audience. Consider how you can deliver your message in the most unexpected of ways.
Go the extra mile
As we’ve said, you need to show your fans some love to get a lot of love in return. Nowadays, a lot of businesses complete transactions in a predictable yet rather cold manner. Go a little further and personalize the experience. Whether it’s sending thank you emails, hand-written notes with the product or even a pack of candy. Add a little extra appeal to each transaction. Your customers will remember it.
Offer real interaction
They will also remember when the human side of the business shows. In the online world, that’s easier than ever. While you want to make sure nothing you do online hurts your reputation, you can afford to go outside the lines from time to time. For instance, using social media, use some of the funnier examples to show how to interact with customers even when you’re just being a bit silly together. Humor is a great equalizer for customer and business.
If you truly want people to get passionate over the identity of your business, you have to be passionate yourself. You can’t fake high-energy. You have to commit in your marketing and throughout the whole business.
