If you aren’t taking the time to get “real” with your customers and followers, you may be doing long-term damage to your brand and business.
Think about it. While you may be sick of “authenticity” as some sort of buzzword, the fact remains that modern customers crave personality and conversation.
Rather than be marketed by just another business, customers today want to make connections with flesh-and-blood people. Click To Tweet This is especially true when marketing to the millennial crowd who are sick of in-your-face sales pitches.
When running a solo gig, your personality is your most important asset. Unfortunately, so many business owners fail to make that ever-so-important connection with their followers and customers because they don’t want to appear vulnerable or unprofessional. That said, solopreneurs, in particular, have so many options when it comes to ditching the suit-and-tie approach to marketing themselves.
Rather than present yourself as a stuffy face in the crowd, why not strive to give your brand a more personal touch? If you want to stand out and connect with your customers, then in this article, you will discover four tactics that will help you out.
1. Take the Time Tell Your Story
Blogging has become the expectation of just about any brand out there; however, writing content solely for the purpose of search engine rankings doesn’t do much to help you stand out from the crowd. While optimizing your on-site content certainly matters, don’t neglect the human element of your business.
Obviously, crafting an effective “About Me” page which tells your story and presents yourself as more than just a business is always a plus. For example, at Foundr we display a compelling “About” page which explain our mission and values to serve entrepreneurs.
Marketing via storytelling does indeed require you to open up to your audience, but customers at large appreciate a sense of vulnerability.
The key takeaway here? Your blog is the perfect place to remind readers that you’re human.
2. Craft More Motivational and Inspirational Content
Before crafting yet another low-effort listicle that’s likely to get lost in the SERPs, consider the power of motivational and inspirational content. Pieces that provide your readers with nuggets of wisdom don’t necessarily need to be the cornerstone of your content strategy, but it certainly deserves your attention.
Look at how marketing experts such as Seth Godin manage to boast one of most widely read and distributed blogs on the web despite ignoring the bells and whistles of modern marketing. No forced pop-ups, spammy opt-in forms or keyword-stuffed articles. Godin instead relies on short but sweet tidbits of information and inspiration that his audience eats up, driving engagement in a few hundred words that most entrepreneurs would kill for.
On a similar note, Godin’s blog reminds us that we should take a positive tone with our marketing whenever possible. That’s why entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk are so popular on Twitter: a steady stream of motivational macros and memes speak volumes toward how your customers more than likely could use a boost.
While marketing via fear has its benefits, taking a gloom and doom approach 24/7 is exhausting for your audience and maybe label you as somewhat of a cynic. When in doubt, figure out ways you can help your customers rather than turn them away, even if that means telling them everything’s going to be alright.
3. Go Behind the Scenes of Your Business
Beyond your on-site marketing and blog, social media represents the prime platform to take your followers and customers “behind the scenes” to see the inner workings of your business. Whether you’re scrambling for content ideas or are fighting for Instagram followers, showing customers what’s “under the hood” of your company is a great idea.
Love him or hate him, serial entrepreneur Tai Lopez’s Instagram and YouTube channel have amassed millions of followers due to his seemingly informal video content that takes followers along for a ride. Through videos such as his “My Master Plan That I Used to Build My Business from Scratch,” Lopez manages to provide viewers with a sense of exclusivity with an off-the-cuff delivery and nothing more than his smartphone.
You don’t need to be a millionaire to go behind the scenes, either. What about a snapshot of coffee shop you’re working from today? What about a simple picture from a satisfied customer? Just about anything’s fair game as long as you make sure it comes from you.
4. Open Up the Lines of Communication
Simply put, the more you make yourself open and available to your followers and customers, the better.
Respond to customer emails and blog comments. Conduct a Q&A session on Twitter or Facebook. If you have people looking to pick your brain, deliver your answers in the form of unique content.
That’s exactly what the solopreneurs at Elite Marketing Pro do on a near-daily basis via live video, combining the aforementioned tips to motivate, educate and ultimately communicate with customers and affiliates.
And at the end of the day, that’s exactly what every solopreneur should strive to do. Those who understand how to market themselves with a personal touch with inevitably stand tall over those who can’t find their voice or are too afraid to step out of their comfort zones. Simply put, opening up your audience opens up more opportunities for growing your online business.
Interested in taking your business to the next level? Reach out to us through the form below and let’s help transform your business into a sales machine!