Given all of the tools at our disposal, I’m continually surprised by the lack of personal touch in most B2B and even B2C Internet marketing initiatives. Just because online marketing is a digital medium does not mean it has to be cold and impersonal; rather, as marketing continues its rapid shift online, businesses must learn to personalize their digital assets in order to stay competitive. They must figure out how to use digital means to form connections that matter. To riff on a popular aphorism, to ignore (your audience) is human, to connect (with them) is divine.
Adding a personal feel to your digital assets does not have to be a long, drawn out process. In fact, you can begin to do so today. Here are three tips to get you started.
Shoot an Introductory Video
This does not have to be an expensive promotional video. The goal is to introduce yourself and/or your team to online prospects and customers. This is a great chance to show that your business goals and values align with the wants and needs of your target audience. Don’t worry about equipment-you can film this video with a portable recorder or even a smartphone. It doesn’t have to be high quality, but it does have to be authentic. You should embed such a video on the Home Page or About Us section of your website, as well as on appropriate social media channels like Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Write a Values Statement
Take a moment to put fingers to keyboard and tell your online audience a bit about yourself. Mission statements are great and all, but you might do better with a brief summary of who you are and why you are doing what you do. Presuming your company’s products/services align with its business goals, this summary will provide your audience a glimpse of what you as a business value the most.
When writing such a “values” statement, make sure to be honest (in fact, you might learn a lot about yourself/ your business during the exercise). Try to write to your ideal prospect. If you had just a few minutes (or in this case, a few paragraphs) with such a person, what would you want them to understand about your brand? You can post this statement in the About Us section of your website, in a blog post, and/or throughout your social media channels.
Design a Photo Collage
Remember making collages in kindergarten? Well, they also happen to be a great way show your target audience the personal side of your brand. Given the success of Pinterest, it is clear that many people connect with visual media. Why not take this concept a step further and post a photo collage on your website? Again, don’t agonize over process; to quote an immortal marketing mantra,“just do it.”
Designing a photo collage of your brand doesn’t necessitate the services of a professional photographer; in fact, I would argue the opposite. Instead, walk around your office for a week with camera in hand and take candid shots of you and your team in action. Then get the whole group together and pick out your favorite ones. Try to select photos that best tell your brand story- shots that your audience can look at and say, “I get who they are and what they do.” If nothing else, you’ll have created a nice memory book for your company.
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