In one of our recent blogs, we investigated the 4 marketing trends that define customer experience and saw how important a compelling story is to a brand’s value. A brand story should be interesting, engaging and simple. This will in turn create a deeper bond between consumer and brand, resulting in long term loyalty and increased probability to purchase when it comes to first time buyers.
So, how does one create a compelling brand story that attracts and at the same time engages the target audience?
Being customer-centric is key.
It’s been long established in marketing that a brand is nothing without its consumers. Businesses that do not focus on customers’ needs can be very damaging. Meaning, adopting a customer-centric approach is vital to all businesses today. Knowing who to talk to and how to talk is the foundation of a good brand story. Understanding your target audience, their interests, their values and their goals will help you engage them with your brand.
This blog investigates 4 key tactics to accomplish this using data.
Interact and investigate.
Interact with your customers on a regular basis. Track your customer interactions and make sure you pay great attention to their customer journey with your brand.
See here for our Customer Journey Mapping Guide.
Furthermore, emails and email marketing can collect important data that will then enable you to create a compelling brand story. Pay attention to the pages they interact with the most, the links they click on, the link they don’t click on, and so on. Identifying their movements within the email will drive you to better engage with them and grow. Thus, data collected from emails can give you great insight into your audience and what they’re looking for the most, and how they like to shop. This can be your number one foundation for creating an interesting brand story that’s appealing to them.
Listen to your consumers, and reply.
Never disregard feedback and reviews. Your consumers should always feel important and at the centre of your brand story. Firstly, you should always value their opinion. Their feedback will help you identify market trends that you can then start incorporating into your brand story. Any feedback is important and it can help build up a good customer service experience. See what your consumers are disappointed about, and try to fix it. Therefore, by building on their feedback, you demonstrate a commitment to your shoppers that highlights your customer-centric approach.
Customers that feel valued are more likely to give you a second chance. Similarly, they will start getting fully invested in your brand just because their voice is heard. This in turn helps build s strong bond between brand and consumer, that can be applied to all channels. Showcasing your brand story while emphasizing your customer-centric approach will help you win many ‘loyalty’ points.
Talk to your consumers.
Don’t hesitate to get into direct conversations with your shoppers. This can potentially provide the richest of data for your brand. You could also start collecting direct information from polls and surveys, either at the end of their purchasing journey, or at the beginning. Discover how your customers think and then build this into your brand story. See what they’re most passionate about when it comes to your brand, see their dislikes and inconveniences, and listen to their suggestions. Meanwhile, you can start using this data to align with your brand values and build a stronger customer-brand relationship. This will then enable growth, which is why you’re reading this blog.
By creating a brand story based on customer data, it demonstrates your willingness to understand their needs. Becoming a brand that can meet the consumers’ needs and even start exceeding their expectations is a brand that’s going to win. Big.
Data collection is the foundation to creating a brand story that actually engages and empathizes with the audience, which as indicated above is a step-by-step process that’s worth it to get to the long-term goal.