It’s time to stop underestimating the importance of personality in your business. What really makes a company stand out from others is that it has character. It’s something that potential customers actually see themselves wanting to interact with. This is something that is essential if you want to get new customers and keep them loyal.
So it’s important that you start to look at your business as a person of sorts. The things that make a given person interesting is that they’re funny, relatable, consistent, friendly, and have good stories to tell. These are the sort of approaches you need to take in business.
Let’s take a deeper look at the importance of character in business and how you can develop it.
The danger of the faceless
People are getting more and more cynical as time goes on. The old ways of simply stamping your logo over everything you can simply isn’t going to cut it anymore. A lot of people can see right through this sort of marketing. They see businesses as pretty much all being the same, regardless of the specific product they happen to be selling. By extension, they see a lot of business owners as faceless, heartless, bloodless – something less than human. You need to fight against this sort of attitude, because it can prevent people from wanting to engage with you as a business.
What kind of businesses have “character?”
There are a lot of companies out there who have defined a distinct personality for themselves that they keep consistent. Levi’s, Disney, Jack Daniels, Old Spice, Monster Energy, Pringles, Skittles, Oreo – these companies all stand out not just because of their popularity, but because they’re advertising campaigns and social media presence are instantly memorable. People expect certain vibes from these companies, and they get them. You might get inspiration from the most liked businesses on social media – read more about them at BusinessInsider.com.
The faces of your company
One thing you can do is ensure people see your small business as something more than a faceless corporation is to, well, show people your faces! Consider having photos and short bios for your employees on your business website. This is a great way of ensuring that people actually see that your business is made up of the contributions of many unique people and not just by whatever corporate interests happen to be bringing in the most profit. This sort of approach to your website can also help when it comes to recruiting new employees.
Telling your story
So why exactly did you start your business? I’m hoping the story is slightly more interesting than “to make money!”. What drives you to keep going? What mishaps did you have to overcome – and what mistakes did you make? There’s a story behind every company. Sure, some stories will inherently be more interesting than others. But even the more banal ones can be livened up with strong writing. Consider collaborating a creative copywriter to produce a powerful, humorous, and memorable company story to be featured on your website. Read more about this at Creative-Copywriter.net.
Keeping it distinct
I used the term “distinct personalities” earlier. I’m using it again here because it’s crucial that you remember it! If you want your business to have character, then it’s not going to work in your favor if you simply mimic another company. Even if that company you’re mimicking is an exciting and funny one, you’ll eventually be found out. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s not exactly a great indicator that there’s anything unique about you. Find your own character and express it in your own unique ways.
Finding Your Brand’s Voice
Adding a character
I’m no longer talking about character in the abstract, here. I’m talking about an actual character! Many a mundane product has been livened up with an animated character of some kind. This is especially prevalent in the cereal industry – think of the countless characters that Kellogg’s and Nestle have come up with. But it’s been seen to work in many types of business, including banking, insurance, automobiles, and food. To make the character even more special, you could consider small items of merchandise, like plush toys. If you need more information, you can find more from CustomPlushToys.com.
Using social media
Social media is incredibly important for any business that wants to carve out a memorable personality. This is where you’re going to be doing a lot of the actual interaction with customers and other professionals that will really stick in people’s minds. Twitter, in particular, is a fantastic platform for making your particular character known. Many of America’s favorite brands have really shined on Twitter by using humor and clever interaction on a frequent basis. You can see some of the funniest corporate Twitter accounts at Time.com.
Blogging and emailing
Blogs and email lists are massively underappreciated when it comes to this sort of pursuit. Blogs are used often, but their ability to highlight your company as unique and full of character is often overlooked. And email lists are often not used at all! (And yes, they are still very effective when it comes to marketing, so stop not using them!) Think about it: they’re low-cost ways of writing whatever the heck you want and getting it out to your fans. If you’re working with the right creative talent, you could fill these posts to the brim with personality and humor. You have no excuse! You can read more about the elements of a great blog over at Lifewire.com.
Need help?
You may have an astonishing capacity for business. But what if your talents seem to rest solely in the “colder” areas of business, where money and formality reign supreme? If this is the case, then you might want to look into getting some professional branding assistance. You don’t have to do all of this stuff completely in-house! Find yourself a branding agency who specialize in crafting personalities while working closely with the desires you have for your business. This can work for you whether you’re a startup that hasn’t started marketing properly, or an established company that needs a rejuvenation. You can read more about this approach at CharacterWeb.com.
