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Using Personality In Your Marketing
If there was one single strategy that would separate you from the competition easily, make your company the clear choice to do business with, and sear your name and company into the minds of your target market like a red-hot branding Iron on a cow’s flesh, it’s this one principle. Creating a “Public Personality” is the easiest way to become a “celebrity” to your target market.
Why would you want to become a celebrity?
First, America is obsessed with celebrity. Mainstream newspapers and magazine subscriptions like Time, national geographic, readers digest are declining dramatically. While the “Hollywood” publications like US weekly, People, Cosmopolitan, ect, are all increasing by large percentages because people like to read about celebrities.
So what does this have to do with you?
EVERYTHING.
If you’re smart you’ll look at this trend in two ways first use celebrities in your marketing and that is a topic for another day. And second, become a celebrity in your market.
The really smart business people on a national level market by using their personalities. Think of a few examples, Donald Trump, Dave Thomas, Oprah, Warren Buffet.
These people instantly add value to everything they do just by putting their names on things.
Donald Trump puts his name on a building, and instantly the value of that building jumps by 20-40%.
Warren Buffet invests in a company and the value instantly skyrockets.
Oprah endorses a book or product and sales go through the roof.
People want to do business with these business celebrities at any cost. Do you think someone is going to squawk about price when buying a condo in Trumps building? They know going into it that he is the most expensive. So that isn’t even an issue. They’re just happy to be able to give him their money.
The easiest way to start incorporating this into your company is through pictures, and personal captions.
On all your marketing pieces, on your commercials, websites, bids, business cards, etc. you should be putting your picture, your name, and a caption of you talking to your clients and prospects.
It’s best if you have a picture of yourself doing something interesting. Don’t just use a mug shot. Be sitting with your dog at your feet. Or have your family surrounding you. Be pulling your hair out if you are offering an incredible sale that no one can believe.
People in general these days want to be entertained. They just won’t stand for being bored.
Building this into your marketing is really pretty easy. What do you like? What do you hate? Are you a sports guy, do you like fishing, are you a family man?
Whatever you like or hate, talk about it in your newsletters, talk about it in your marketing pieces and on your website. Get people involved in your life.
Why does this work so well?
Because all things being equal; people do business with friends and family. All things not being equal, people still do business with friends and family.
We all know consumer loyalty is down dramatically from what it once was. Why is that? Is it the consumer’s fault? Are they more “disloyal” that they used to be? Have humans changed that much in the past 30-40 years? No.
The problem is that consumers have been trained to be disloyal. Think about your own experience with corporate America.
Let’s take the airline industry. Do you feel like you are doing business with “Friends and family” when you buy an airline ticket online, then go to the self check in and get your boarding pass without talking to a human being, walk onto the plane and get growled at the by the flight attendant? No, and it’s the same story with just about every company out there. You may be included in that.
You may say, “we’ll that’s the way the consumer wants it. They want convenience.” However I’m not talking about convenience here. I’m talking relationship. They are not mutually exclusive. You can have one representative assigned to you so that every time you buy a ticket online from Delta or United, they are notified and they call you or send you an email to personally make sure you have what you need. Even if you use Expedia or Travelocity, they could do the same.
They should have one representative build a friendship with you. Take care of you, so in your mind when you think plane tickets, you think of them first. You have someone to contact instead of going through the ridiculous maze of endless voice mail and bull crap when you have a question.
Humans are funny that way. We all want to be needed. We all want to be treated well. In fact I was just reading a book the other day that said “There should be No First class”.
The point was that everyone wants to be treated well and taken care of. Everyone craves attention.
So by creating a feeling of personal relationship with your customers, they feel like you care about them. They feel like they have a relationship with you. And therefore they come back and buy from you.
Take an example of your best friend who knows you are in the furniture business. If he were to go out and buy exactly what you sell from your biggest competitor and then you found out about it, how would you feel? You’d probably wonder why he’d do such a thing. It’s almost like being stabbed in the back.
Then when you show up at his house and see a new dining room table he just bought, and you know he didn’t buy it from you, I guarantee that he’s feeling guilty about it.
This is a perfect example of what the power of this relationship can do for you. If you customers feel guilty for shopping at your competitors stores, you are doing it right.
Lest I am misunderstood, I’m not saying that you have to be out on the floor everyday saying hi to everyone and selling. I am saying that you can do all of this simply by using your name, face and voice in your marketing.
I walked into a local grocery store the other day and I saw a life size picture and card board cut out of the two owners smiling and saying “Welcome to the store”.
“Pretty good” I thought to myself. These guys use their own voices on their radio ads, they welcome you into the store and they are building the relationship. I know people in my area who will not shop anywhere else.
A few more of the benefits to using personality in your marketing:
Perceived expertise
More easily recognized
People like to do business with people, not organizations
No competition (no one can be Oprah, or Donald)
The steps to start this process are:
Use your pictures on all marketing
Use your name everywhere
Use a personal signature
Use your voice on radio commercials
Create a “Public Persona” as the “Furniture King” Or “Mattress Man” etc.
Use your personal name with your marketing, more than your company name.
Speak to your audience one on one, as if they are friends.
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