I can't tell you the number of times that I've heard people talk about how specialized their industry is, their niche, or how unique their customers can be.
Truth be told, it really doesn't matter which industry you're in or whether you're B2B or B2C. What really matters is that you're P2P: person to person.
Let's face it. Very few people want to read content that is dry and overly technical. Unfortunately, many businesses make this mistake by creating content to appeal to specific job titles or industries.
Truth be told, it really doesn't matter which industry you're in or whether you're B2B or B2C. What really matters is that you're P2P: person to person.
Let's face it. Very few people want to read content that is dry and overly technical. Unfortunately, many businesses make this mistake by creating content to appeal to specific job titles or industries.
Instead, they want to hear from the person behind your brand. They want to see your unique personality and relate to you. They want to establish a connection with you. While we live in digital world where much of our interactions with brands happen online, people still appreciate a good old-fashioned personal touch.
If you find a way to humanize your content and truly think of your customers as living, breathing people rather than just job titles, you will do wonders in setting your brand apart.
As you're reading this (and while I'm writing this), I'm sure we can both think of a few examples of brands that really just market to job titles instead of appealing to the human element. Instead of calling out these companies, I want to share a few examples of brands that I feel do a superb job of reaching people, regardless of how niche their industries are.
Sharpie
We all know Sharpie as a manufacturer of permanent markers, highlighters, fabric markers, pens, and more. Nothing too exciting about this, right? It would have been so easy for Sharpie to create content for office managers, but this brand has found a very unique way to appeal to everyone. In fact, they've even given Sharpie that "cool" factor.
If you take a look at Sharpie's blog, you'll see that they share some really different ways to use Sharpies that go far beyond the office. One of the more recent projects highlighted on the blog was how to create patriotic shorts with Stained by Sharpie products. There's another article on the blog that talks about how Sharpie partnered with jewelry retailer Baublebar to create a line of Sharpie Neon inspired necklaces in celebration of Sharpie's launch of neon permanent markers.
This brand gets even cooler with its Instagram account where employees and fans are encouraged to share their artwork that is made purely using Sharpie products. People are then encouraged to chime in and rate these Sharpie creations. And, as a result, these posts spark an incredible amount of engagement, ultimately earning Sharpie a loyal following.
It would have been so easy for this manufacturer of office supplies to be boring by creating monotonous content directed towards office managers and the like. However, Sharpie has found a very unique way to humanize its brand and simply reach people. With the way that Sharpie markets its brand, its products truly can appeal to anyone and everyone.
Apple
Apple is one of the most respected companies in the world, and much of that can be related to this brand's ability to turn something ordinary like a computer or a phone into something extraordinary.
If you take a look at Apple's marketing strategy, it's all about the customers. Probably one of the biggest reasons why they're able to pull this off is by hiring customer-obsessed employees. As a result, the content that they create is not only empathetic to what the customers need, but also shows them what they didn't even know they needed.
Apple uses its content to offer real value to people and show them how their products will better their customers' lives. For example, we've all seen the marketing campaign where Apple shares high quality images that were shot from the iPhone 6 by actual customers. This essentially demonstrates that Apple's technology is so good that there's no need to carry around a high-end camera.
While Apple could have easily decided to target job titles and industries, the brand truly understands that the key to success is simply reaching people. By finding a way to connect with people at a deeper level and bring value to their lives, Apple has been able to build an enormous base of loyal fans.
So these are just two stellar examples of brands that really understand the powerful impact of reaching people, not job titles, and I'm sure you can think of several other brands that excel at this concept as well.
Whether you're a business that is just starting out or you've been at it for a while, always remember that you shouldn't think about your customers as anything other than people. If you have this mindset in everything that you do--from writing copy to making presentations--you'll be very effective in making that important human connection and creating a base of loyal followers.
If you find a way to humanize your content and truly think of your customers as living, breathing people rather than just job titles, you will do wonders in setting your brand apart.
As you're reading this (and while I'm writing this), I'm sure we can both think of a few examples of brands that really just market to job titles instead of appealing to the human element. Instead of calling out these companies, I want to share a few examples of brands that I feel do a superb job of reaching people, regardless of how niche their industries are.
Sharpie
We all know Sharpie as a manufacturer of permanent markers, highlighters, fabric markers, pens, and more. Nothing too exciting about this, right? It would have been so easy for Sharpie to create content for office managers, but this brand has found a very unique way to appeal to everyone. In fact, they've even given Sharpie that "cool" factor.
If you take a look at Sharpie's blog, you'll see that they share some really different ways to use Sharpies that go far beyond the office. One of the more recent projects highlighted on the blog was how to create patriotic shorts with Stained by Sharpie products. There's another article on the blog that talks about how Sharpie partnered with jewelry retailer Baublebar to create a line of Sharpie Neon inspired necklaces in celebration of Sharpie's launch of neon permanent markers.
This brand gets even cooler with its Instagram account where employees and fans are encouraged to share their artwork that is made purely using Sharpie products. People are then encouraged to chime in and rate these Sharpie creations. And, as a result, these posts spark an incredible amount of engagement, ultimately earning Sharpie a loyal following.
It would have been so easy for this manufacturer of office supplies to be boring by creating monotonous content directed towards office managers and the like. However, Sharpie has found a very unique way to humanize its brand and simply reach people. With the way that Sharpie markets its brand, its products truly can appeal to anyone and everyone.
Apple
Apple is one of the most respected companies in the world, and much of that can be related to this brand's ability to turn something ordinary like a computer or a phone into something extraordinary.
If you take a look at Apple's marketing strategy, it's all about the customers. Probably one of the biggest reasons why they're able to pull this off is by hiring customer-obsessed employees. As a result, the content that they create is not only empathetic to what the customers need, but also shows them what they didn't even know they needed.
Apple uses its content to offer real value to people and show them how their products will better their customers' lives. For example, we've all seen the marketing campaign where Apple shares high quality images that were shot from the iPhone 6 by actual customers. This essentially demonstrates that Apple's technology is so good that there's no need to carry around a high-end camera.
While Apple could have easily decided to target job titles and industries, the brand truly understands that the key to success is simply reaching people. By finding a way to connect with people at a deeper level and bring value to their lives, Apple has been able to build an enormous base of loyal fans.
So these are just two stellar examples of brands that really understand the powerful impact of reaching people, not job titles, and I'm sure you can think of several other brands that excel at this concept as well.
Whether you're a business that is just starting out or you've been at it for a while, always remember that you shouldn't think about your customers as anything other than people. If you have this mindset in everything that you do--from writing copy to making presentations--you'll be very effective in making that important human connection and creating a base of loyal followers.