Every small business has a story to tell, and it’s especially important for your potential customers and existing customers to know your story, because it will help you to connect your customers to your brand. Your small business or brand’s story is your opportunity to attract customers by making sure they know about your core values. Social media makes it even easier for customers to know your story, and have them spread the word for you about your small business.
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Think Outside the Box
Go outside of the box when it comes to defining value. Your value has to be defined in human terms instead of business terms. Don’t look at your values in conjunction with sales, instead, focus on what your product or service does to make the life of your customers better. Keep drilling down on your values until you reach why it is that you are doing what you are doing. what do you believe in? How are you enhancing the lives of others? Once you answer these, you can tell your business’s story more effectively-and have customer listen to it.
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Maintain the same Page
Your core values and vision are linked together very closely. Everyone involved in your small business needs to be on the same page. When everyone’s not on the same page, it can lead to problems. as long as everyone is on the same page about what defines your business, then everyone will describe your business the same way, and you won’t have to be concerned about your business being represented differently depending on who’s talking about it. You can ensure that everyone shares your vision and core values by asking all of your employees to use five adjectives for describing the business, as well as two business aspects that are either valuable or unique. Check to see if they are similar, and use them to find themes and define the description more clearly.
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Humanize the Voice
Remember that you are creating a persona to tell your story. There are a lot of companies and business that have mascots as a way to deliver their message -think Geico. While you don’t need to go as far as creating a mascot, you need to think if your business were a human, who would it be, and what would it care about?
You have to be open, honest and stay true to yourself and your business. Consumers can see through a mask and that will only bring your business down. With more clarity about your point of view and your core values, you can build your customer base faster and enjoy more loyalty. The most successful brands are those that have personified their brand.
