brand

By Stuart Cooke

There’s really no doubt about it, making your brand stand out against all of the digital noise can be a challenge and a half. Through all of the paid campaigns, is your brand actually making meaningful connections with your target audience? When it comes to social media, the people that we connect with most and that we care about and keep coming back to, are those who share content that is real, and that we feel that we can relate to on a certain level. Ultimately, those with personality. But how can you go about giving personality to a brand? It’s more of a challenge, of course, to give your brand personality and give your customers an insight into who you are and what you’re about. But it can certainly be done, and goes a long way in creating real, long-lasting connections. Here are just a few ways to do it.

1. Be transparent

 It really goes without saying, but you should always strive to make your brand as honest and as transparent as possible. Consumers are smart, and you should never assume that not to be the case. People can spot fakes and dishonesty from a mile off, and those things will never do anything in the way of giving personality to a brand. However, honesty and transparency certainly goes a long way. People appreciate honesty, whether it’s about how your products are manufactured or what goes into your service to make the overall customer experience. People appreciate behind the scenes content, because it’s raw and it’s real and it makes you seem much less like a robot and more like a human. Get honest and real about your product or service at every opportunity, whether it be via your blog, or perhaps across your social media channels. Instagram stories is increasingly popular for BTS content.

2. Own up to your mistakes

If anything can damage a brand’s reputation, it’s messing up on social media. And not owning up to it and holding yourself accountable is something that can really pin the final nail in the coffin for your brand. Remember, when you delete something on the internet, it’s never really deleted. People have ways and means of digging things up and holding them against you. Making mistakes is only human, we all do it. If anything can show your brand’s personality, it’s making mistakes (never intentionally, of course) and owning up to them. The vast majority of your customer base will likely appreciate your brand’s vulnerability, so long as you effectively manage your damage control, sincerely apologise and ensure it never happens again. You could even turn it into humour if it’s appropriate and suits your brand.

3. Show off your team

Brands are often quick to forget that people do business with people, not companies. An easy, but entirely effective way to show a more personable side to your brand is by showing off the people who work for you. Your business has spent time and resources building a team that reflects your brand ethics and that is a collective powerhouse. One of the easiest ways to do this is by having an “about us” section on your website with photos of your staff and a brief description of who they are and what they contribute to the business. That way, your customers can really get a feel for who exactly they are interacting with when they interact with your brand. Other ways to show off your team is by including them in marketing materials, such as your social media channels, blog or even marketing videos. A fun way to do this is by introducing a new member of the team every week on a platform such as Instagram, for example. Giving your team the chance to shine through different opportunities not only boosts office morale, but it gives an authentic, humanised side to your brand. Your brand’s personality naturally emerges when you show off the people who make it what it is.

Stuart Cooke is the blog editor at www.IrishParcels.ie. You can connect with them via Twitter at @IrishParcels.

Brand stock photo by fizkes/Shutterstock