4 Ways to Win the Hearts of Consumers (DONE)
Rewind back to 30 years ago, people spend their weekends patronizing malls to get fashion tips and making purchases. Fast forward, shopping at brick and mortar stores have reduced significantly as most shopping online is now done online. As our lives becomes more hectic due to work and family commitments, online shopping has proven to be a time saver with its 24 hour convenience.
As digital technology advances, anyone can easily purchase a product from another country without stepping out of the house.
In this digital media age, consumers now have even more options and a busier life – it has completely revolutionized the way we shop. What remains the same, is how we make buying decisions.
Two key things that people make purchases for:
- They buy from the people they like
- They buy based on emotion and back it up with logic, not the reverse.
In Simon Sinek’s brilliant TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” he breaks down how most companies sell:
Rattling off a list of features and benefits
Describing what they do (always), how they do it (sometimes), and most importantly but most rarely, WHY they do it (often an afterthought)
As Simon Sinek said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Companies that understand how people make decisions win business. Their purpose drives their results and not the other way around.
In this post, we will focus on how brands can make their story and purpose crystal clear by answering the “Why?”:
1. Lead with Your Values
When customers visit your site, can they easily understand who you are and what you stand for? In other words, is your mission clear? What is your brand purpose? This type of clarity lays the foundation for what people will use as the basis of their purchasing decisions. Try this exercise right now to identify your values: stop reading this blog post, grab a piece of paper, and write 5-6 words about why your company exists. To paraphrase Simon Sinek, your company does not exist to make money. That is just the result. The best brands can express what they stand for in just a few words.
2. Tap into Emotion
How do you create Apple-like fanaticism for your product? You tap into your audience’s emotions to create a positive brand perception, one that converts buyers into loyal customers and then into advocates. Invoke emotions that build brand affinity, whether that’s funny, innovative, inspirational, or something else. Elon Musk recently got on stage and revealed the much-anticipated Tesla Model 3 to a rapt audience–the energy in the room reminded me of an Apple conference with Steve Jobs. By the time he got on stage, before anyone had even seen the car (barring any speculative Internet leaks), the pre-orders were approaching 200,000.
3. Tell a Great Story
When a person is interested in a brand, he/she develop a slight obsession for it. They would want to read everything about them, follow them on social media, and text all their friends to check out the company. One such obsession is Everlane. Everlane excels at creating buzz around their product releases, consistently generating thousand-person waitlists for new bags, coats, and shoes. They drum up buzz and excitement with a strong digital marketing strategy that tells a beautifully clear and compelling story–drawing people who believe that luxurious, long-lasting pieces should have transparent origins and a reasonable price tag.
4. Be Aspirational
One interesting social media phenomenon that has been going on: girls love to tag their friends in pictures of well-dressed women with just one word: #goals. But if goals are dreams with deadlines (thanks Pinterest), why not make your goals a reality? Rocksbox, an e-commerce startup based out of San Francisco, makes it easy for busy women to effortlessly ace their jewelry game through their subscription box service. Think of them as the stylish best friend with the closet you just wish you could raid. All you have to do is take a fun style quiz and receive a handpicked box of 3 pieces from top jewelry designers. You can keep them as long as you like – with an option to purchase – and then send back the box with the included pre-paid shipping label. It becomes a fun and easy to use platform for you to get an access to endless pieces, at an affordable price.
Text credit: http://blog.marketo.com/2016/05/4-ways-to-win-the-hearts-of-consumers.html
