NEWSFLASH!
Your customers are not homogeneous.
They do not want the same thing from you.
They do not all think the same, have the same needs, wants, and desires and they certainly do not want to be spoken to as one generic mass.
So, what do you do?
How do you speak to different segments as one brand?
How do you engage with them in a meaningful way and get them to know, like, and trust you?
You need to tell a consistent, authentic story, but you need to do so in ways that resonate best with different segments of your audience.
Let me first start by saying that this is not easy and does not happen without consistent effort. Gone are the days where there were three channels on tv, a limited number of radio and newspaper options, and because of this, people are not apt to respond to mass appeals aimed at the middle, like they were in decades past.
Today, there is a choice, and people want to be spoken to through their medium of choice and in ways that resonate with them. GenZ utilizes different mediums (on average) than the GenX generation, and both respond differently to communication than Boomers. Men and women respond differently, and so do different socio-economic, different countries, races, religions, and other belief structures.
However, there is one thing that binds them all. They are all human beings, and in the end, they all want to be listened to, understood, and valued. They all want to feel special and have their needs, wants, and desires addressed and communicated in ways that resonate with them.
So, what is a brand to do? How do you communicate your value clearly and concisely, stay true to your values, and what differentiates you while still speaking in the language of your various audiences?
The first thing you need to do is understand who your audience is and who they are not. Everyone with a heartbeat, credit card, and access to the internet is NOT YOUR CLIENT! Your clients are the people for whom you can solve a real problem, understand how you can help them, deem you valuable, and are willing to trade their hard-earned dollars for what you have to offer. Of the seven and a half billion people in the world, I can guarantee this narrows the field down considerably. Your customer has to not only need what you have, perceive your solution as more valuable than that offered by others, but most importantly, have the means to pay for what you provide. Those who think you have an interesting idea, but never are willing to pay for it, ARE NOT CUSTOMERS!
Once you can determine who you are serving and realize that they are different demographics and psychographics, you need to determine what is important to them. What are the things about your product or service that resonate with that specific group? This is critical, because only by understanding this can you develop communication that is tailored to their specific needs and resonates with them directly.
The next step is to understand what mediums they use. Are they on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Weibo, Twitter, another channel, or a combination of them? Do they prefer email, phone calls, visiting you at trade shows, videos on your website, chatbots, or webinars? Different audiences are going to want to respond to you differently, but if you spend your time trying to be everywhere and doing everything, you are going to quickly go broke, because there is no way to do everything well. A better strategy is to understand what are the top four or five platforms and be there and DO THEM WELL!
What is meant by doing them well? It means speaking in the language and the format of the medium. On Instagram, you will use far more graphics where on YouTube, you will create valuable video content.
Here is a great online course that I found that I think you will find valuable.
The last piece of advice I can give you, and I cannot stress how important this is, make sure you have the right people, systems, and process in place to listen to all your channels in real-time and respond in real-time to any questions, concerns or comments that arise from the communication you put out. If you do not communicate with those you wish to query you, you will be seen as inauthentic, non-responsive, and become a discarded option for those you wish to become clients, and before I let you go, remember, your employees are your clients too.
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Ben Baker wants to help you engage, retain, and grow your most valuable asset … your employees. He provides workshops and consulting to enable staff to understand, codify, and communicate their value effectively internally and externally and Retain Employees Through Leadership. He is the author of Powerful Personal Brands: A Hands-On Guide to Understanding Yours and the host of the Spotify and IHEART Radio syndicated YourLIVINGBrand.live show, he writes extensively on leadership, brand, and internal communication strategy.
His COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE COURSE is now available: “KNOW – LIKE – TRUST! How to Develop Your Personal Brand” CLICK HERE to access the course
About Ben Baker
Ben Baker has been a Fractional Chief Communications Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Podcast Officer for his clients for over a decade. "The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw We help you fix that problem and make sure you are listened to, understood, valued, and engaged with by internal and external clients, prospects and stakeholders in meaningful and profitable ways.
Ben Baker has been a Fractional Chief Communications Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Podcast Officer for his clients for over a decade.
"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
- George Bernard Shaw
We help you fix that problem and make sure you are listened to, understood, valued, and engaged with by internal and external clients, prospects and stakeholders in meaningful and profitable ways.
