Building a successful business isn’t easy and requires you to manage many different factors. However, ensuring that the brand resonates with its target audience is unquestionably one of the most important. After all, consumers have the power to determine whether the company sinks or swims.
It can feel like an uphill battle, but a series of small steps can help you reach the summit. Focus on 10 below and you won’t go far wrong.
1- Know Your Place In The Market
One of the first lessons you need to learn is that not everyone will love your business or its products. With this in mind, it is better to resonate with a target market and alienate other audiences than be ignored by all. Conduct some market research to find your niche.
Following this, you can work with a digital marketing coach to ensure that the brand image aligns with your place in the market. Combine this with multi-faceted campaigns that expose your brand to the desired audience in the right places. Success will become more likely.
Understanding your place in the market guides all future decisions. This will save you time and money as you can make more informed decisions. Aside from more effective campaigns, it should allow you to stop wasting your energy on audiences who won’t convert in the first place.
2- Make It Easy For Consumers To Contact You
To attract a modern consumer, you need to think like one. In today’s climate, people want instant answers to their problems. Therefore, your company must make it easy for them to contact you. Chatbots are particularly popular as they offer a self-serve approach to 24/7 customer care.
Chatbots do provide 24/7 support. While many people prefer speaking to an AI tool, they still want the interaction to feel natural. Follow these top tips for conversational UI to take automated client care to the next level. In turn, clients will gain far greater clarity from your brand.
FAQ pages and forums help too. When supported by a proactive team of friendly live agents, consumers will be happier. It will translate to more conversions as well as increased loyalty. The knowledge that they can get quick answers also impresses users that don’t need help right now.
3- Sell The Benefits, Not The Features
As a marketer or a salesperson, you must acknowledge that you see products differently from customers. While the cool features excite you, most buyers are primarily interested in how it can impact their life. In other words, they want to know why the product is right for them.
Keep this in mind when creating ads or content to promote a product. Ask “What does it do?” rather than “What does it have?” and you won’t go far wrong. Even when selling a service, a CTA that focuses on what it does for the buyer, as well as the price, is a great tactic.
On a side note, it makes sense to focus on visual content. Video marketing, for example, sees viewers retain up to 95% of the brand message. The goal isn’t to get a sale today. It’s to ensure that a consumer chooses your brand once they are ready to make a purchase.
4- Build Trust Through Social Proof
Ad campaigns and content can speak directly to the brand, highlighting why the product is right for them. However, people also need to trust the company. The majority will actively conduct research to see what experiences others have had. It can even be the way they discover it.
The power of social proof is greater than ever, not least because it can also introduce FOMO. Social influencer marketing is a particularly effective way to achieve this goal. If the content creator has a similar audience to yours, it exposes your brand and boosts engagement.
Influencers also see your products through the same lens as a customer. So, they will promote the right USPs. Affiliate marketing and securing customer reviews will take the results to even greater heights. The influence it has on a consumer’s purchasing habits is incredible.
5- Stand Out On Search Engines
Most marketing campaigns focus on gaining awareness with consumers who may or may not be interested in your products. However, search engines are used by consumers when they are looking for a product or service. Even if not buying today, they are in the buyer’s mindset.
Therefore, search engine optimization should be a goal for all brands. Search engines deliver more traffic than any other source while the leads are hotter. Research shows that most people click a result on the first page. So, getting your brand in this position can change everything.
A strong SEO campaign has no limit on how many people it can reach. Internet users trust search engines and will associate a website that ranks high with trustworthiness. Given that almost half of all searches have a local intent, it’s valuable for offline companies too.
6- Support Smooth Transactions
As a business owner, you already invest heavily in marketing. However, this counts for very little if you are missing out on sales due to inadequate transactions. If the process is inconvenient for the customer, there is a very strong chance that they will take their custom elsewhere.
When working in the digital space, a payment gateway that accepts multiple payment types is clear. This includes all credit and debit cards, as well as major online payment options. For an offline venture, you must focus on using a POS terminal that delivers a quick and secure sale.
If selling more expensive items, offering repayment plans removes a potential barrier. However, you will need to be wary of defaulted accounts. Use credit checking software to save you from encountering bad debt and sales will become more likely.
7- Manage Order Fulfillment
Your commitment to the customer cannot end at the point of sale. Getting the product out to the consumer quickly and in good condition is an equally crucial factor. Otherwise, customer satisfaction scores will plummet. And the likelihood of gaining their loyalty becomes minimal.
Most people now expect the option for next-day delivery unless it is a personalized product. Even standard delivery should be completed quickly. Therefore, outsourcing order fulfillment can be a very wise move. It ensures that deliveries are made on time without distracting your teams.
Whether you outsource this part of the process or not, sending order updates to customers is advised. Notifications can be triggered at each key stage, such as ‘dispatched’ or ‘delivered’. Emails and SMS messages are the most popular forms of communication to update users.
8- Show Corporate Responsibility
Modern consumers judge businesses on many factors that go beyond the product or service. They are more concerned about working with brands that share similar views than ever before. As such, corporate responsibility should be considered a core feature of your brand image.
Corporate responsibility starts with adopting eco-friendly habits and supporting worthy causes. Most people actively try to reduce their carbon footprints. So, working with a brand that does the same supports their lifestyle. Naturally, this provides an extra incentive to choose your brand.
It’s equally important to treat employees well. Cultivating a positive working environment does not only impact the way consumers feel about the business. It also directly improves client interactions as the positivity of employees is passed on.
9- Deliver An Experience
Consumers have more choice than ever before. So, if your company is going to stand out, it must go the extra mile for its customers. Delivering a more immersive and rewarding experience is one of the most effective ways. Introducing VR and AR into the shopping process is ideal.
This could be as simple as letting a user upload a photo of their kitchen before digitally testing out new cabinetry options. Another key part of the experience is the packaging. These top tips to make yours more appealing will get customers excited. It’s the start of product interaction.
We have all seen people go crazy for Instagram-worthy products solely for that experience. However, the commitment shouldn’t end there. Invest in loyalty schemes and other tactics that make customers excited to come back for more. You will not regret it.
10- Give Customers A Voice
Lastly, you should have the humility to admit that you don’t know everything. Even when you get most things right, there is always room for improvement. Rather than guessing which updates should be made, why not focus on the data provided by your customers.
You can track a lot of data through the best CRM tools. Picking up trends can identify where things need to change. However, the use of surveys and focus groups are an even better way to learn about what people expect from the company. Provide it, and they’ll keep coming back.
Aside from building a business that satisfies their needs, it makes them feel valued. By growing a stronger connection in this way, you are far more likely to secure the results you crave. The immediate and long-term future of your business will look brighter than ever.
