We’re All Marketers summary

No matter what you’re selling, one of the first things you need to understand is your brand. 

Every successful brand is more than just a logo and a name. It’s also a personality, a spirit, a certain quality that sets you apart from your competitors. 

A major factor that influences purchasing decisions is cultural relevance. Not only are many consumers eager to align themselves with culturally relevant brands, but they’ll also be happy to pay a premium to do so.

It used to be that only huge corporations had the necessary budget to reach such a level of awareness. But thanks to the internet, today even small brands can gain enough exposure to become cultural touchstones. This doesn’t mean your fledgling business should try to go head-to-head with Coca-Cola or Nike. Instead, you have to play a different game by locating your customers and establishing yourself in their community.

Once you’ve identified your brand, your target audience, what you want to say to them and where they can be reached, it’s time to prepare content that will get people’s attention and ensure that they understand what your brand is all about.

There are two things you can do to make your message heard among all the chatter on the internet: tell a story and be evergreen.

Even if you know exactly who your customers are and where they spend their time online, it can still be a challenge to capture their attention and make a sale. Some businesses attempt to overcome this issue by casting a wide net, spamming everyone in their contact lists and shooting off unsolicited sales pitches to random strangers.

This is not how effective social selling works. Social selling is about reaching out and engaging with people on the platforms they use, building relationships and providing them with value, without overtly pushing them into a sale.

As you’re generating your marketing content and considering ways to offer value, you should keep the three Es in mind: Engage, Educate and Entertain.

There are, of course, different ways to provide a potential customer with value. If you’re looking to entertain, you might want to experiment with humorous videos. The author found success through a campaign on his LinkedIn profile called #SundayFunday, wherein he’d post footage of himself doing a funny dance while giving shout-outs to members of his community. As well as being entertaining, this kind of content can strengthen relationships with your customers.

You probably know from personal experience that many companies put customer service low on their list of priorities. Maybe huge corporations can afford to do this, but you shouldn’t follow their lead. Providing personal, quality customer service is a smart thing to do, as it can give your business a competitive advantage.

While you may feel disheartened when a customer complains about your product or service, keep in mind that a complaint only becomes a problem if you decide to ignore it. Instead, you should view the complaint as helpful feedback about something that may be troubling other people and that should be addressed.