1. To understand your audience, create a persona.
You have probably heard it said that marketing messages should appeal to your target audience. One great way to get to understand them is to create a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a fictionalized representation of the ideal customer’s characteristics and values.
Personas help you understand your customers’ challenges and how your business can solve them.
2. Create a brand identity and voice.
Your brand will begin to shape once you have identified your buyer personas.
You need to create a brand identity. This is what makes your brand, , unique. It also includes its voice. This is the tone that you use in marketing copy and public communications.
It is like building your personas and brand voice.
Instead of asking questions about your target audience you are answering questions more introspective about your brand. What are your values and what do they mean? How do you want people talking about you?
Create compelling emails, blogs and social media posts that reflect your company’s values and portray the way you want to be perceived to customers.
If one of your values is customer accessibility, you can make your contact information easily available, engage customers regularly, and answer any service questions they may have in the comment section.
The copy of the content should reflect your voice. Do you intend to use conversational language that is relevant to customers? Is it more effective to communicate with your customers from a technical perspective?
Fanm is an example of a lifestyle business with a strong understanding of brand identity.
You’ll notice consistency in the branding of the brand when you visit their website and social media channels. You’ll find vibrant colors and powerful images of women and copy that fosters a sense community.
It is a reflection of the brand’s name, which means “strong women”, and celebrates sisterhood and self-love.
3. Plan a consistent presence on social media.
Now we have a clear picture of who your personas really are. Now we know what messaging to send them. But where are they?
You have a good chance of finding them on social media. This is a great opportunity that you shouldn’t miss. We have discussed how important it is to reach people wherever they are already present. This includes online behavior.
A 2020 Sprout Social Index report showed that 89% consumers will buy from brands they follow on Facebook. According to the study, social media users are eager to find out about new services and products from brands. It was the number one reason respondents follow companies on Facebook, with 57% saying it.
Once you have a clear idea of your audience’s interests, it is time to figure where they spend the most time on social networking.
You don’t need to play Inspector Gadget to figure this out. You can check out your competitors to see which ones are most active and how they connect with audiences.
Also, take a look at the demographic breakdown of each social platform to get a better understanding of who are you targeting and where.
For example, between 24 and 35 years old, the highest proportion of U.S. women and men who use Facebook is from the United States. TikTok on the other hand tends to attract a younger audience with many of its users being part of the Gen Z demographic.
You’ll be able to determine where your resources should go if you discover that the majority of your audience prefers one social media network.
Don’t forget to check out other sites. You can diversify your audience reach by having a presence on several social media platforms.
Diversifying your methods and channels for obtaining leads will help you connect with as many potential clients as possible.
It’s just as important to maintain a presence as it is to build one. Have you ever visited a brand’s Facebook page and found that there has been no content in the last three months? It’s likely that it had a negative impact on your perception.
You can avoid this by scheduling and planning social media posts as you would with any marketing plan.
It is also important to plan ahead about what content you will post on social media, and how you intend to interact with your followers.
According to the Sprout Social Index report, one of the biggest reasons consumers don’t follow brands on social media are irrelevant content and too much advertising.
You might be wondering what the respondents are looking for. They stated that engagement is their top priority, followed by memorable content, compelling storytelling, and then retention.
Even if your brand voice is not strong, it can still be valuable.
4. Create a blog for your company.
We have already covered the importance and benefits of blogging. It is a key part of the inbound marketing flywheel, especially stage “attract”, which transforms website browsers into visitors.
Inbound marketing starts with a blog. You can reach qualified customers like your personas by creating content that matches their search terms. It’s important to make your blog posts relevant to the audience ( ) and to optimize them for search engines (). Here’s how.
“Dharmesh & Brian believed that to build a brand that is remarkable, you must create amazing content. We have done that consistently since 2006, when we started our blog.”
Customers want the best information possible. This content could also be used to populate your social networks.
Conduct keyword research to find out what your audience is looking for. This will show you the most relevant topics via search engines.
Although blogging is inexpensive, it takes time.
Inbound marketing would be the answer to that question. “
A blog editorial calendar can help you maintain consistency and new content on your blog. We have created a free blog editorial calendar template with all the necessary instructions and content management tips.
5. Customer service should be a top priority
Most people immediately think of “Zappos” when they hear the name. This level of service was a core part of the online apparel retailer’s business model.
Why is this so important? Why is this so important?
This is known as earned media. People talking about your brand’s remarkable work are called recognition.
When I shop on a new website for the first time, I read customer reviews. Reviews that highlight fast shipping, friendly customer support, and high-quality products are more likely to convince me to buy.
I’m not the only one. A 2020 Zendesk Customer Service Trends study showed that customers consider customer service more than product or service quality when making a decision about whether to buy from a brand.
One bad experience is all it takes to lose a customer. The report revealed that half of customers will switch to a competitor after one negative experience.
This brings up the importance of your voice and identity. As you work through the brand-building process, consider the values you want your audience experience. For example, excellent service. These values will influence how you speak to your audience and shape the culture of the brand.
Are you wondering what actions you can take to improve your customer experience? These are proven ways to improve customer service.
- Provide quick resolutions for consumers’ problems, provide 24/7 customer support and have friendly agents.
- Engage customers by being proactive with notifications.
- Respond to customer service inquiries and complaints via social media.
- Customers can still call for support by calling in, since it is still consumers preferred channel.
It’s important to keep your audience in mind. The second step is to think of creative ways to reach those customers.
Have fun building your brand. This is a creative process, and although some experiments may fail, there are always opportunities to learn. All the best with your branding endeavors.
