Shake the bad brand habits.
Communication is the backbone of every good relationship. How your brand communicates to the world says everything about your brand purpose and your beliefs. Yet many consumer brands find effective communication challenging and fail to maintain brand engagement.
We ask what the common pitfalls are and how brands can avoid them… After all, better communication benefits everyone.
1) Forgetting the consumer
What’s the problem?
Brands feel they need to communicate some things all at once, whether it’s how brilliant their latest products are, keeping up-to-date with industry news, or responding to social media comments (to name a few examples), juggling the many different avenues of communication can get convoluted. Often, customers or patients are left in the dark about which products or services they need and which are suitable for them. Neyo Dental in Brighton is an example of a brand that clearly defines the dental services they offer patients and the degree to which they have specialists on board and in practice. Patients are crystal clear on the problem and then the solution.
Why it’s a problem?
The consumer may be overlooked and will not engage. Brands may forget that the way to earn the respect of their audience is not to reassert their brand value constantly but to focus on the needs of those they’re talking to. Just as we are unlikely to put up with friends who only talk about themselves, our attitudes towards inward-facing brands are the same.
How can we do it differently?
Keep this in mind: a conversation, in whatever form, is only engaging when it considers both parties. Consumers DO want to connect with brands. They want to hear about what is being done for them and how they can get involved. Above all else, consumers should feel better off as a result of any brand communication. A tangible benefit to the audience or wider world, whether it’s emotional, functional, or societal, is vital. See Expert Design Agency in Brand identity for B2B companies.
2) Getting in a muddle with data
What’s the problem?
Marketing is one of the fastest-evolving industries of the 21st century. This is largely down to the way we adapt and evolve with new technologies and try out all sorts of daring and creative things with them. But technology has opened up a new minefield: data collection and how we use it. What do we do with this additional layer of information about our audiences?
Why it’s a problem?
It’s not so much a problem as an untapped opportunity; a lot of the information that brands hold just isn’t being used to its full potential. We’ve got to a stage where understanding customer behaviour, and using this to target brand messages, is a given. Now we have the opportunity to be even more customer-centric.
How can we do it differently?
First of all, marketers need to ask more questions. ‘Why are consumers doing XYZ?’ ‘What motivates them?’ ‘Why do they visit certain places at particular times?’ ‘What do audiences want?’ Consider the ‘essential human truths’ – like finding a partner and achieving a sense of purpose – are these at all helpful when it comes to understanding your audience’s behaviour on a deeper level? New consumer insights enable marketers to target their communications and better meet the needs of individuals.
Feel-Good Example
Nike+’s suite of personal fitness products and services successfully delivers a seamlessly integrated, insight-driven service, which appeals directly to their active audience. No matter what platform (web, app, smartphone, tablet, etc.), Nike+ puts the relevant data to the best possible use by considering why consumers use certain apps and devices at particular times and for what purpose. The great thing about it is that the experience of a first-time runner will be very different to that of an experienced marathon runner.
If we assume that users want to improve their fitness and feel a sense of achievement, data collected via sensor technologies embedded into wearable devices – and the insights gleaned from these – can help shape a bespoke user experience. For example, running routes and times may be valuable to the user in their raw form. However, this becomes even more valuable when Nike+ uses the same information to monitor progress, create training programmes, offer motivation and connect like-minded users. This refined experience takes the product beyond purely functional and adds an (all-important) emotional element. Moreover, users can post their accomplishments on social media (an example of purpose-led platform integration), which heightens their sense of achievement within a social setting. More.
3) Keeping ears wide open
What’s the problem?
Brands are fantastic at talking about themselves and the world as they see it, but they sometimes fail to listen to evolving social conversations and adapt to changing customer needs.
Why it’s a problem?
People switch off if the conversation is always one-way. The desire to be reassured of our self-worth is an inherently human trait. A one-way conversation is belittling—it puts the views and opinions of one party (in this case, the brand) over and above those of another (the consumer). Where a brand talks insistently about its own interests and shuts its eyes and ears to audience feedback, it will miss valuable insights and make people feel undervalued—the opposite of what we want to achieve.
How can we do it differently?
To adapt, evolve and keep consumers happy, marketers need to know precisely what is being said about their brand and current campaigns across all media channels. They must assimilate how people engage with the content produced and decipher what works well and what falls flat. So listening is key. After all, without the consumer, all brands become meaningless.
The style in which a brand communicates should help the consumer feel accepted, respected and appreciated. They should feel better off as a result of it. Consumers enjoy having opportunities to talk to brands, so actively invite this through what you say and through creating a supportive, friendly and helpful environment in which to ‘talk’. The way to improve customer experience is to listen to and develop ideas with the consumer — allow people to be part of your brand story going forward. Together, brands and consumers can clarify, energise and amplify brand experiences. Term.
