Great marketing is about creating experiences that build loyalty, according to Jim Joseph. It’s about getting people to fall in love with you so that when they want a product in your category, they consciously choose your brand, time and time again.
Joseph, President of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications and Author of The Experience Effect, didn’t just theorize on marketing and branding during his enlightening Vocus webinar this month – he shared his secrets on how to build an experience for your brand that transcends your product or service, engages with consumers and differentiates you from your competitors. Here’s what he told us:
- Clearly define your brand. Jim says you should be able to define your brand in three sentences or less. It has to be focused and have a personality. And ask yourself a few questions: What are your skills? What do you make or provide? What do your customers need? How can you be different to and better than your competitors? You’ve got to find the answers to these questions, then pinpoint and provide the experience your customers want.
- Target your customers. And we’re not talking some broad, quantitative target. Anyone can hit the 18-65 market – but that won’t win you customers or loyalty. You need to pinpoint the emotional benefit that your customers want – if you’re an airline, do your customers want safety, comfort or impeccable service? To find that out, put yourself in your customer’s shoes – Jim advises literally following customers around to find out how they get through the day. See what they like, what they hate, and what makes them tick.
- Position yourself distinctively. The difference between competitors in the same space, in terms of actual products and services, is extraordinarily marginal, says Jim – whether you’d like to admit it or not. But people will choose you if your brand, and the experience you provide from every touchpoint – PR, social media, traditional press, etc. – is creative, different, and speaks to the customers’ needs.
- Execute consistently. Your brand has to be identifiable; a known commodity. When people walk into your store, visit your website, or follow you on Twitter, they have to get the same feeling, see the same look, and receive the same message. That’s consistency. A perfect example, according to Jim, is Lady Gaga – she has branded herself as an underdog, who is fighting for her fans. From her partnership with Polaroid (an underdog brand at this point, to be sure) to her Twitter engagement with fans, she is consistent in who she is.
- Make smart decisions. You can apply this to literally anything – smart decisions, in all walks of life, are a great thing. But Jim says that in marketing, you have to make decisions based on the experience your brand provides – is a new undertaking out of character for the personality you’ve developed? Does this new look fit with who we are? You have to think of these things and recognize that every decision you make for your company can impact the experience you give the consumer. And this is important, because in the end – your brand is all you’ve got.
