We have helped a number of large global brands attract customers and raving fans. The lessons we have learned along the way are quite easy for a small enterprise, even a small storefront, to use.
By some estimates, fully 25% of all commerce now occurs purely online, and the remaining 75% is heavily influenced by online activity. Translation: your customers are likely using online search tools to shop, compare, evaluate and decide. In this new “Digital Darwinism” normal, it is safe to say that the fittest online businesses will likely survive and thrive in a transformed society.
3 Essential steps to become a Fan Foundry on any Channel
Using this Fan Foundry blog as an example, our main theme is now to democratize our knowledge and experience to make it more useful, easy to remember, and repeatable, to benefit the greatest number of people. Hence, this article.
In that spirit, I have distilled our learnings from thousands of hours and hundreds of client engagements, where we have helped them measurably and, in some cases, dramatically improve the results of sales, marketing and service organizations ranging in size from Fortune 50 and global brands to small enterprises.
A slogan we often use in client engagements to help them focus their efforts is:
“Show Up. Show How. Show Proof.”
That’s it. If you remember and do those 3 things, you are poised for success. Details below.
I. Show Up.
By “show up”, I mean find a channel or two where your customers and buyers are active. Next, learn that channel’s intricacies, so you politely deliver expertise and commentary. Whether your audience uses predominantly email (the most effective by far), Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or some other online channel, your best move is to dedicate some time and resources to become fluent in that channel (hint: daily analytics review) while building the most professional, on-brand, human-voice presence available. Research your competitors for ideas, but don’t stop there; that’s a recipe for retreat. Too often, we find that surveying competitive practice only shows you others’ half-baked results, and doesn’t reflect your own imagination. Do them one better: survey best practice and outstanding results wherever you can find it. One could argue that we’re all competing with Amazon these days. It’s a tall order, but you can learn a great deal from the Amazon experience and adapt it to suit your channels and audiences. You could also easily eclipse Amazon’s reputation by offering clear, easy, opt-in / opt-out / settings-control features.
II. Show How
Put your best content forward. It helps to build capability in storytelling, illustration and editing. You need not be a multimedia wizard, but it helps to develop your own ability, have that talent onboard, or find an expert who can commit to helping you build your brand voice using visual methods. Explainer videos, how-to articles, and detailed, graphic illustrated instructions are standout leaders in growing audience engagement, customer satisfaction, and service excellence. Whoever does it best wins the hearts and minds of the audience. Lather, rinse, repeat. Maintain the drumbeat. Repetition for emphasis is highly recommended. It helps you to “own” your ideas and your brand identity.
III. Show Proof
Social Proof – bringing customer stories into your daily conversations helps prospects envision themselves as buyers. Including a customer quote testimonial at key buying points, or moments of truth, in your online presence, is now table stakes. Add it to your recipe for all marketing and sales content you publish. Our own testing shows that a smiling, captioned customer quote is a key factor in removing doubt and convincing buyers to convert, whether it’s in an email, on a landing page, in a brochure, or in a business conversation. The timing and placement of a customer story, condensed into a quote, helps convince a buyer, minimize hesitation, and diminish the usual momentary doubt or post-purchase remorse, so you can both confidently move forward together.
