It’s simple. All you need to do to make your customers care is create a brand that achieves product market fit, tells a compelling story, positions the product perfectly, understands the emotional triggers of the consumer and nails the messaging. Easy, right?
Here at Make Us Care, we’ve got a brand storytelling method that works. You just have to be the hero in your customers’ stories.
Here’s our step by step guide on how to take that first step into storytelling superhero-dom.
Let’s start with some stats. Data uncovered by Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman showed that 95 percent of purchasing decisions were unconscious.
What does that mean for you on a practical level as you build your story? Put simply, it means that it’s as important to focus on the emotions around the purchase need, as much as the features of the product or service itself.
Imagine your customer as the protagonist of the story. They’re facing a challenge or a problem that only your product, the hero, can help them overcome. Understanding the feelings they may have when facing this issue gives you a serious head start in marketing to your customers. Now you just have to persuade them that only YOUR product can save them.
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
Einstein
We love this quote at Make Us Care, because it’s so true. Telling your story in the clearest and simplest way possible forces you to make it better.
An easy – and effective – way to do this is to ask yourself this: How would you explain what you’re selling to a stranger? Or a 6-year-old?
Overly complicated jargon or complex technological descriptions are an immediate method to switch people off – even those who are educated in your industry. If there’s an easy way to explain what you do, take it.
At Make Us Care, we believe strongly in doing all the hard work for your customer. In the context of this part of the messaging, that means bringing them:
The facts they need to know, concisely
The things they care about, clearly
The emotions they feel, considerately
And for really valuable feedback, run it past a 6 year old. Guaranteed to give you brutal honesty, and startling insights.
This may sound obvious, but considering your customers’ path to finding your product is invaluable for building that emotional connection to your brand.
What were they facing that led them to seek out your product or service? How were they feeling at that moment? What did they NEED?
Placing yourself in their shoes allows you to empathise with their predicament and visualise what hero they need to come along to solve their problem. From that spot, you can build brand stories and messaging with your customer firmly in the centre.
Why is this important? Because nothing makes people care more about a brand than understanding why and how it helps them.
So you’ve got their attention with your product, now how do you stop them going elsewhere to a competitor?
This is where your brand storytelling needs to blow its own trumpet. Ask yourself why your product is the top dog of heroes, the Batman of brands if you will (oooh controversial).
What do you stand for? What’s the driving force behind the work you’re doing? What makes you a cut above the rest?
The one thing to keep in mind when considering all this is that customers care because your product makes life better for them. Whatever you’re selling, remember to incorporate why your product will improve their lives, and the emotions they will feel because of it.
Once you’ve reeled your customer in, your tone needs to be consistent to give them that sense of continuity and reassurance.
Below is a great example of a brand that really gets its audience, and how to speak to them. Ohne’s approach is simple, emotionally intelligent and direct.
Let’s get formulaic and dissect this short and sweet example together:
The main copy here speaks directly to Ohne’s audience. . It’s aspirational. It’s alive. It’s already actively helping their customers achieve a better version of themselves.
Next, it’s broken down the categories people might care about, but it’s up to you whether you read on. Lastly, it talks like its customers do. It understands that, for years, period products have been, well, sanitary – in tone, in brand and everything in-between. So, Ohne is consciously speaking to that pain point without explicitly saying that.
Simple, effective, brilliant.
Next step: How to get your brand and customers on the same page