Category: a slice of STRATEGY

Pure, unadulterated strategy: marketing, brand positioning, & entrepreneurial wisdom. New trends with staying power. Old standbys with inarguable value.
What to embrace, what to avoid, and what to attempt — with steady discernment.

Why Do We Need a Brand Story?

Posted on by Maria Ross
Why You Need a Brand Story

Why do you need a brand story? 

It’s quite simple.  

The market is competitive and customers have choices. Too many, actually. We are bombarded by 1000’s of advertising messages every single day. 

But for those of you skeptical about how a brand story can help you close deals this quarter, pull up a chair. 

We are HUMANS. We have emotions and they often override rational thought. Yes, even in the most analytical sorts among us. 

Your business exists to make money. We all get that. It’s table stakes. But your desire to make more money is not aligned with my desire as a customer to solve a problem, achieve a goal, see myself in a new way, or enjoy certain benefits. I don’t give a flying fig how much money you want to make. 

Your customers want to be enchanted. Delighted. They want to know that their dollars are being spent on what they need, yes, but also in pursuit of a larger purpose. (Tweet this!)

You DO have a purpose. And guess what? It’s not just to make money. If you’re an entrepreneur, you could have picked a hundred different ways to make money, Why did you choose THIS way? What got you excited? What possibilities and future vision enchanted you? 

That’s your mission. That’s your brand story. 

If you work for a company, there is no company without its people. So what got all these people I gather in a room for a brand workshop excited about working HERE? Why here? Why this? What is the larger thing you want to be part of? What is the impact you want to have on the market and on customers? 

That’s your company’s mission. That’s its brand story. 

My job as a brand strategist is not about “inventing” a slick-sounding brand story for you to tout on your website, marketing, or recruiting materials. It’s about getting a group of very diverse people with very diverse business and customer perspectives together in a room to answer the tough questions and elevate themselves above the daily firefighting to see the bigger picture. To raise their heads up from their laptops and spreadsheets to share, from the heart, what it is about the company and the work excites them the most. 

I’ve seen the most cynical leaders open up about how they want to improve people’s lives. I’ve seen the quietest attendees energize the room with one pointed, insightful remark. I’ve seen eyes light up when all that (sometimes painful) thinking and conversation leads to an A-ha moment and the energy in the room crackles. 

When we make that magic, people leave the room buzzing. They want to do more, be more, serve customers more. 

See, the magic of a brand story is not only that it attracts and inspires the right customers. It’s that is attracts and inspires the right employees. And that translates to their productivity, loyalty, and innovation. 

Your brand story is just the spark that lights the fire. It fuels your marketing, yes, but it also fuels your culture and operations. The best compliment I ever got was from a CEO of a tech company client. He said, “This work, while initially a marketing exercise, changed the way we talk as a company – and talk with each other.” 

That’s my brand story, the one that gets me fired up. To help my clients engage, inform, and delight not just their customers, but themselves. To tap into your authentic advantage and make your work irresistible, inside and out. 

Want some of this energy and inspiration for your business? Let’s talk! 

Here’s more I had to say on LinkedIn about a brand story…and why so many executives shy away from it or think it has nothing to do with revenue. 

How to Get Your Team to Align On and Live Out Your Mission

Posted on by Maria Ross
How to Align Your Team on Mission

Your mission statement is meant to be a brand tool that informs your decisions on a daily basis. 

It describes what you do on a daily basis as an organization in pursuit of your larger vision. 

But as a leader, how do you ensure your team is aligned on mission? And most importantly, how can you ensure they are living it out on a daily basis? 

The first challenge requires communication and education. The second challenge requires empowerment and a strong operational structure. 

First, how to ensure your team is aligned on mission? 

This starts in the recruiting process. Does HR understand what the mission means, truly means, to the business everyday? Are you screening for people who embrace the mission and are passionate about it….or are they just looking for a job?   

Does everyone in the organization even know what it is and apply it to their daily work? 

But further back, how was the mission created? Was it just a great idea in the head of the founder? Sure, it probably starts out that way, but as you scale, you have to bring in other voices and perspectives to contribute to what they believe the mission of the company to be. From where they sit, what is most important? How do they view the work? 

This doesn’t mean you have to poll every person in the company every six months to provide input and (shudder) Frankenstein a mission statement that appeases everyone. It means when you go through a brand messaging exercise, mission and vision should be a part of that, as they are the top of the brand messaging pyramid, and everything else trickles out from there to support them.  

If people don’t at least have a say, they won’t buy in.

An effective mission is not dictated from the top-down without any input or diverse perspectives. It needs to be more than a poster on the wall. It should impact daily work. (Tweet this!)

(I’ve developed a proven brand workshop process so that different voices have a say, but then a final decision can be made with buy-in from everyone. Yes, it works. Really. We’ve successfully wrangled the most errant cats, and even got a team to consensus and excitement after they had tried FOUR times before to craft brand messaging. But I digress….) 

To the second challenge, of ensuring they live it out on a daily basis: This is trickier. But not impossible. 

As with anything, you get what you reward. Have you developed a mission statement that can guide decisions making on a daily basis? And if so, how do you promote or reward those who exemplify living out the mission? 

What’s that? You don’t. Well, there’s your issue right there. 

You get the behavior you reward. If you want your people to truly live the mission, you have to make it show up for them in performance reviews, promotion discussions, and rewards.  

As I share in my book, The Empathy Edge, technology company NextJump bases everything they do on their core values, one of which is humility. They issue an annual Avengers Award to the person voted by their peers to help others the most, by however they define it: “The Avengers Award is focused on the trait of ‘service for others’ and recognizes the Next Jumper who most exemplifies steward-leadership….It is an annual peer-nominated award.” (Read the book to find out what the winners get (it will blow your mind!) 

Next Jump makes the stakes very high to ensure people live out their values. It shows commitment that the company is not messing around when it says it values humility.  

You can do the same for your mission. Attach rewards, accountability, and attention to your mission. Invite employees to articulate how their daily activity supports the mission and to reframe their work toward that higher purpose. Challenge each other to take a step back and think about the mission when making important decisions.  

This is how you energize your employees to adopt a particular mindset and live out the mission. 

PS: Aligning on your mission statement is not merely a nice-to-have. It ensures everyone is in pursuit of the same goal, which makes decisions easier. Learn how REI’s strong alignment around mission led to one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, the #OptOutside campaign, which results in the stores being closed on Black Friday. Where, you ask?! Check out my newest book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams)  

Photo by Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash

How Do I Use My Mission Statement in My Brand?

Posted on by Maria Ross
How to use your mission statement

Mission statements are cute, aren’t they? 

Clients get all tangled up in using words they’d never actually say and lofty statements that sound amazing but have nothing to do with their product or service. “Our mission is to empower women to be their best selves.” Um, you sell hosiery. 

Or they make it so generic: “Our mission is to help people.” Help them do what? 

Yes, some my favorite mission statements could fall into one of these categories. I adore JetBlue’s “Inspiring Humanity” but you may wonder, what the heck does that have to do with air travel? 

A good mission statement is one that: 

  • Inspires 
  • Delights 
  • Informs what you do every day, at a high level, in support of your larger vision 
  • Has legs and room to grow 
  • Can be used to make decisions on a daily basis. 

Let’s break this out. 

The first two are pretty self-explanatory. If the statement is not going to send a little tingle up your spine, it’s not going to inspire employees or customers, which is what it is designed to do. A mission should encapsulate your brand strategy and support your reason for being. 

But what about the other factors? 

Your vision is your desired future state. What is the change you seek to make in the world with your work? If your vision was achieved, your organization might not be necessary anymore. So what is that large lofty world you imagine? 

As I’ve said before, not every solopreneur needs a vision statement. But you DO need a mission statement. 

Your mission communicates what you do every day in pursuit of your vision. But it needs to leave room for your whole suite of current and future products or services, not just one specific scenario. 

(Read more about the difference between your Mission and Vision statement.) 

Therefore, you must be able to use your mission statement, to some extent, when making daily decisions about product, direction, content, and priorities. “Does this decision help us achieve our mission?” If yes, do it. If not, rethink it. (Tweet This!)

We came up with some great mission statement options for clients this year (which I can’t reveal because rebranding is still pending!) What I loved is that all of my clients understood how to use this mission as a decision-making tool, not just as a cool poster on the wall. 

That is how you use your Mission in your brand. You use it to communicate a higher purpose, a focus, and even the tone of your brand voice in how you write it. Your employees should know it from memory, not because they’ve been forced to, but because it’s used to guide the customer experience every day. They should be asking themselves in all decision-making meetings if what they propose is in pursuit of this mission or not. 

This maintains a consistent experience across all touchpoints so that customers understand exactly what you do, what value you offer, and what you stand for.  

And that, after all, is at the heart of what “brand” really is. 

PS: Aligning on your mission statement is not merely a nice-to-have. It ensures everyone is in pursuit of the same goal, which makes decisions easier. Learn how REI’s strong alignment around mission led to one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, the #OptOutside campaign, which results in the stores being closed on Black Friday. Where, you ask?! Check out my newest book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams)  

Photo by Anna Samoylova on Unsplash

5 Ways Empathy Benefits Your Business

Posted on by Maria Ross

Empathy is not just good for society, it is good for your organization’s performance. 

(Yes, if I have to speak to selfish motives to make the world more empathetic, I will!) 

Empathy has been shown to have a direct impact on everything from customer loyalty to innovation to profits. When embraced with genuine intent and not simply as a glossy PR veneer, empathy can offer your organization countless benefits beyond just, well, being a good corporate citizen and doing the right thing for people!  

Caveat: While empathy offers all these wonderful benefits, it must be genuine. Your organization can’t just paint a glossy empathy veneer on for good press. 

It must truly embed empathy at the leadership, culture, and external brand levels.  (Tweet This!)

Here are 5 proven ways that empathy benefits your business:   

  1. Empathy spurs innovation: When you understand your customers, you can keep pace with changing needs and desires. Internal studies at Google found that their most innovative and profitable ideas came from teams leading with soft skills, such as empathy. 
  2. Empathy aligns you with customer wants and needs: The more in tune you are with your customers, the faster you can deliver best-fit products or services before your competitors catch on. In order to know what customers desire, you must see things from their perspective. Building an ideal customer profile will help you know what their life is like. Steve Jobs, for instance, focused on understanding a customer so well that Apple’s product designers knew what the customer wanted before they did. 
  3. Empathy improves employee performance: Employees with more empathy and collaboration skills can often outperform and advance faster than those with purely the technical skills to succeed. Organizations find that having these skills aids in team members’ individual successes. 
  4. Empathetic brands — and workplaces — appeal to millennials and Gen Z: As professionals, they are among the most diverse generations in the workforce and seek to leverage diverse perspectives to solve tough business challenges. They stick with employers who embrace new perspectives and value their points of view. As consumers, they’re loyal to companies and brands that care and make a difference. 
  5. Empathy drives sales, growth, and market performance: The best and most progressive corporations have begun to adopt and employ compassionate business tactics, which have improved their standing in the market. Many companies report improved metrics such as a healthier stock price, higher valuation and increased revenue. 

Want to read more about how empathetic mindsets and practices specifically benefit your leaders, culture, and brand performance? Please download this free guide: Five Ways Empathy Benefits Your Brand, Performance, and Culture 

And don’t forget to check out my new book, The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams. You’ll get an even deeper dive into research and case studies that process these benefits and get actionable steps you can take right now to make yourself and your organization more empathetic. 

Don’t compromise your story

Posted on by Maria Ross
Don't Compromise Your Story

Sometimes, we are so confident and passionate about the story we have to tell. We know that we can offer tremendous value, whether through our own brand story for customers or a creative story that leads to art, music, poetry or dance.

Commerce and art are similar. When the story inspires you and resonates for others, things just seem to flow.

Which is what was happening for me as I began the journey of writing The Empathy Edge in early 2017. After some fumbling, I had articulated the message in my heart (thanks to wise help from the fabulous Alexandra Franzen). I was pumped. I had a vision. People validated me with “Yes! This is the business book we need. We need to show that empathy at work and with your customers is the modern success model. Write it. Pleeeeaaaassssse!”

And then, as I pitched to literary agents, the fog rolled in again.

Thankfully, all of them made time to give me detailed feedback or talk with me. They were generous and kind. I was flattered they thought I was a great writer.

But then:

“Well, I’m just not sure where this really fits or how to position it.”

“I don’t know if this will fly to a business audience.”

And…

“I can totally sell this book to a publisher if you change it from “empathy” to be a book about how ‘ feminine traits’ make organizations successful. Will you change it?”

What?! NO.

See, that was their agenda, not mine. They were looking for a neat slot to put me in, something easy to sell. And their publishing partners were pressuring them to find “more books about women’s topics.” (This was right in the thick of the Me Too movement). 

They told me they could sell this book. If I didn’t write the book I wanted to write.

I kindly said no. And pressed on.

See, my entire point with The Empathy Edge and this message that  “cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive” is to make it gender-neutral. It’s not about male or female traits. Empathy is a HUMAN trait. 

And if I pigeonholed it as “owned” by one gender, I’d lose the opportunity to reach the very audience who, for better or worse, currently makes up the majority of business leaders. And frankly, some of my least empathetic bosses were women, so we don’t have a lock on this either, people.

Most importantly, I’d lose those male allies who were models of empathetic leadership – and who wanted this book to help bring other male colleagues along and help me change the conversation.

So, I said no. To a sweet deal. To it being easier.

The lesson: Don’t let anyone else shape your story. If it fuels you and resonates with others, stop at nothing to tell it. (TWEET THIS!)

And now you can read the book that I wanted to write.

The pre-launch sale for The Empathy Edge is going on now. Click here for details. Buy before October 22 and get some fabulous goodies, including an invite to my exclusive author Q&A, a bonus expert video series, and even, at larger quantities, a free customized workshop for your team or event.

And, when you read it, I’d love to know: Did I make the right decision?

PS: To get some fabulous bonuses, including an exclusive author Q&A webinar, bonus video training and more, pre-order your copies of The Empathy Edge right here: https://red-slice.com/eebonus/  

After placing your order, just submit your receipt on that page, and enjoy your goodies! Order by October 22. Thank you so much for your kind support! It means the world.

3 Ways to Show More Empathy to Your Customers and Clients

Posted on by Maria Ross
3 Ways to Show More Empathy to Your Customers and Clients

Empathy is not just a woo woo concept. My new book, The Empathy Edge, explores the very practical, bottom-line impacts of having an empathy mindset.

The book is for big organizations…and, yes, for solopreneurs. My research found that this ripple effect and the associated benefits achieved by adopting an empathy mindset as part of your business strategy are not just for brands that have a lot of time, money and resources to throw at it. In fact, solopreneurs have a huge advantage when it comes to building a brand known for empathy, compassion, and caring.

Just as I showed in my book Branding Basics for Small Business, when you are the chief cook and bottle washer of your own organization (or even just have a staff of 10), your distinct advantage is that you are so close to customers or clients. You interact with them daily. Use this nimbleness and proximity to your advantage!

For the book, I had the pleasure of connecting with writing teacher Alexandra Franzen. Alex has been a long-time friend and colleague, partnering with me for clients early on, and then helping me with my own brand copy. I adore her. She has tends of thousands of email subscribers, but she manages to make each and every one feel like the email was written just for them.

Alex’s success has been phenomenal. She sells out writing course and books up clients six months in advance, with a waiting list. Clearly her strategy is working for her. So of course, I interviewed her for the book to ask her how the heck she does it. And I was surprised (and delighted) to see that what she does for her clients is exactly aligned with what a large national pet pharmacy does for theirs. it’s so simple, but so overlooked and seemingly hard to do:

Offer a personal touch.

It’s the secret to driving more sales. When your customers feel understood, when they feel like you “get them,” they are more likely to know, like, trust – and yes, buy from – you.

“I do think there’s a correlation between sales and empathy,” says Alex. “Every customer at the end of the day wants to know ‘You see me and you get me.’” (TWEET THIS!)

Here are 3 ideas Alex shares for offering a personal touch and showing more empathy to your tribe:

1. Treat everyone in your community like a person.

Stop trying to just collect email addresses like baseball cards (do people still do that?!) Appreciate those fans who have already raised their hands to be with you. Respond as you can. Alexandra says, “People write back to share their thoughts and feelings or just say thanks. While it’s not always possible, I try, to the best of my ability, to write a personal response to everyone. Even if it’s just to say, ‘I appreciate you enjoying my work,’ I try to treat every single person in my community as a person.” Need some ideas for how to love on your people better? Check this out.

2. Carve out time to proactively check in.

Set aside 15 minutes on your calendar each week to check in with past clients, surprise some email subscribers, or reach out to call a partner you haven’t heard from in a while. I like to do this to welcome new subscribers to my community and get to know them a little better. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort but can reap huge rewards. People remember. They talk about it to others. They appreciate you. Alex might simply check in on an important deadline she knows is coming up or reference a challenge they might be facing. Imagine how you can delight someone with just 15 minutes of your weekly time to stop thinking of yourself and think of them!

3. Be thoughtful and customize experiences.

Alex’s signature writing retreats are an experience you never forget (and have only gotten more customized and luxe over the years!) She will handwrite welcome notes and select thoughtful thank you gifts that reflect each person. While she does these things to put more love and kindness out into the world, they have also helped her grow her business. Almost half of her clients put down deposits on the next retreat before leaving the last one. What personal touches can you do with your own clients to show them you know them, and that you care?

Intrigued to learn how other businesses are adopting empathy to better connect with customers and grow their business at the same time? You will L-O-V-E hearing more from Alex and other leaders (including big brands) in The Empathy Edge. Check it out!

Are you giving too much away?

Posted on by Maria Ross
Don’t be afraid to give them a taste

Recently, someone wrote to me and asked: 

“Maria, how can I differentiate my services without actually ‘giving it all away’ in the marketing and sales process? It’s literally like pulling people out of The Matrix: unfortunately “no one can be told what the Matrix is – you have to see it for yourself.” So I spend all this time ‘explaining the disrupter’ to explain and  differentiate myself – but then I’ve given everything away.” 

Trying to understand how to give away “valuable content” (aka, content marketing) to get your audience to know, like and trust your brand can be confusing. If I share all my secrets, you worry, why would they even need to pay me? 

It might feel like you’re telling them everything, but if the only expertise you have to offer can be given away in a few posts and free eBooks, I’m worried that you may have chosen the wrong profession! True experts know there is so much more they can possibly share. It’s okay to tempt with a few tasty morsels. When you do, you create more trust in your brand and expertise. 

Here’s what is actually going on: You feel like people already know “the basics” of what you do. So you may think you have to give away the good stuff. Au contraire.  

Don’t discount sharing the basics as part of your content marketing strategy. What is basic for you is a revelation for others who are not as skilled in that area. People will realize there is SO MUCH more that they don’t know – and they need your help. 

Here’s a very personal example: I wrote a book, Branding Basics for Small Business, that gives entrepreneurs and business leaders a DIY, bare-bones version of my consulting process. They can build their own brand strategy using some of the actual questions I ask. 

But I still get paying clients. For a few reasons: 

1. As I said, this is bare bones. Working with me is a richer experience, we dive into deeper questions, I probe further, and we deliver polished recommendations and messaging (they have to come up with that on their own with the book!) This will be true for you, too.  

2. There is always a volume of clients out there who think they want to DIY but then can’t/won’t. They know they need the experience: the hand-holding, the accountability, the creative insight and wisdom that only YOU bring. So they buy the book – and then they might hire me anyway to get things DONE. (PS, I am that person) 

3. There will be those who will never buy from you anyway. Great. They can take the free stuff and not waste your time. But then there will be those in #2. So give them a taste and they will want to engage more deeply with you and benefit from your focused attention. 

Don’t be afraid to give away a piece of what you do to better explain your work and offer a taste of your style, philosophy, and smarts.  (TWEET THIS!)

You have a lot of expertise and knowledge. Years. Perhaps also years of education, certification and lessons-learned.  You couldn’t possibly give it all away, even though you think you might be. And even if you reveal some goodies, your ideal client wants you to tailor your advice and coaching to their needs – so, in the end, they will hire you. 

How a Chocolate Éclair Makes You A Better Marketer

Posted on by Maria Ross

Ever thought about why you dive into a chocolate éclair (or mint chocolate chip ice cream, or a bag of jelly beans…name your guilty pleasure!) 

I mean, it offers so much, right? Maybe you’re hungry. Maybe you had a bad day. Maybe you’re celebrating a big client win. Maybe you’re having coffee with a friend and want to share a bit of decadence together. Maybe you just think it looks gorgeous (an adjective I love to apply to food). 

Hunger. Comfort. Reward. Friendship. Beauty. 

There are many different reasons that could have driven you to that purchase decision. And it may be a different from my reason for buying one in line right behind you. 

Your reasons for indulging in this culinary creation are your buying drivers.  

The chocolate éclair’s benefits need to speak to those buying drivers…or you won’t care. 

What does this have to do with marketing and messaging your offerings? EVERYTHING. Because if you are trying to sell me a chocolate éclair as comfort food for my bad day when I want to celebrate a big win, I’m gonna pass. That message just won’t speak to me. 

Determine the benefits your ideal customer craves and speak to those when you talk about your work.  (TWEET THIS!)

There are lots you can choose from, to be sure. This is why understanding your ideal client at an intimate level can help you narrow it down to what is most relevant and important for them. 

Don’t talk about cost savings if I only care about top-notch quality. Don’t talk just about weight loss if I care more about fitness and health. Don’t talk about how complicated your process is as a way to prove it’s amazing if all I care about is ease and simplicity. Don’t talk just about how hopeless and sad is your cause if I’m looking to donate money that will offer hope and impact.  

Know your audience. Speak to their buying drivers. If you don’t know what they are, ask them. Amplify the benefits they care about the most, not the ones you think they need to know. 

Make sure the benefits you offer match up to the buying drivers of your target customer. Otherwise, you need to tout different benefits or find a new audience who cares about the ones you want to promote. 

How Brand Benefits Define your Position

Posted on by Maria Ross
Do your benefits attract the right customer?

Choosing the right lead benefits for your brand messaging dictates which customers you will attract. And a pair of hospital system giants in the San Francisco Bay Area exactly prove this point.

Why this is even more amazing: healthcare advertising is the WORST. Most of it talks about the exact same things and offers no real differentiated position for customers. In my advertising days, we used to joke that, with any hospital billboard or TV spot, you could just swap out a logo and it would be the exact same one as any other hospital in the country.

Here in SF, UCSF and Dignity Health are two separate hospital systems.

UCSF has gone big with promoting their commitment to advanced technologies and treatments. To their doctors’ experience and the medical breakthroughs that they are a part of every day. 

Their tagline: Redefining possible.Their ads and billboards, as this campaign video suggests, focus on technology and offer hope based on what science can do for medicine’s toughest challenges. They have created a brand that showcases them as leaders in medical advancement. If you want cutting-edge treatments for complex problems, go here.

This is one of my favorite ads, for UCSF’s Benioff Children’s Hospital.

Dignity Health differentiates itself based on the human experience. Their ads focus on how extraordinary acts of kindness create miracles every day. They have created a brand that if you want to be treated as a human, and not just a medical test subject, go here. Their tagline: Hello Humankindness.

You MUST watch some of these ads (get ready for all the feels!):

How far would you go for someone?
Kids playing hockey
We can face anything together
Is there a hero is all of us?

Both work as complements in the market, because they both claim a different space.

Obviously sick people care about getting well. But some people care more about the science and technology aspects. Others care more about their experience being treated as human beings.

Clearly, patients want both. But these different brand strategies each claim a separate space based on the main motivator (or buying driver, if you can call it that in healthcare) of their target audience. 

If your primary concern is getting cutting-edge treatment to achieve the impossible, and you care maybe a little bit less about how nice your doctor is (not that UCSF’s doctors are not nice, but if that is not your primary motivation), UCSF will appeal more. I think of data-driven thinkers, those comfortable with risk, those early adopters who want the latest science and technology.

If your primary concern is the patient experience, and you value that above all else to help you get well, Dignity Health will appeal more. This could be someone who had a traumatic experience at another hospital, or someone who knows they really need their hand held. Doesn’t mean Dignity Health’s quality of medical care is not also excellent, it just means they are more attractive to someone who cares more about kindness, respect and well….dignity.

Neither position is wrong or right. But each brand position is super clear on who they are talking to.  And that is why they both work.

Honda and Porsche both sell cars but they sell to very different drivers with very different motivations and needs.

Your brand must claim its space in a crowded market as well. And you do that through the brand benefits you choose to lead with. (TWEET THIS!)

Who is your brand talking to? What benefits do you lead with? Are you taking a position that people can clearly understand or can any company just slap their logo on your website and no one would be the wiser.

3 Ways to Give Your Marketing More Charisma

Posted on by Maria Ross
Ready to jazz up your marketing?!

You know that killer accessory you have? The one you feel in love at first sight with at a random boutique years ago? You wear it with everything to give your outfit a pop. It makes a statement.

People take notice.

The great thing is, you can add this piece to simple sweater and jeans and like magic, you’ve added some pizazz to your look.

Your marketing and messaging needs to be the statement piece for your business.

Yes, you can describe exactly what you do and give people the price list before sending them off to the Contact button……zzzzzzzzzz….I’m already bored.

Or you can spice things up and add some charisma!

Charisma means “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.”

You want your work to attract the right people.

You want your work to charm them and inspire devotion so they become loyal customers and raving fans.

So launch a charm offensive! If you want to attract customers and generate revenue, your marketing needs some charisma. (TWEET THIS!)

But with all my talk of making sure you have a clear, consistent message, how do you do that?

Here are 3 tips for how to add more charisma to your marketing:

  1. Be human. I’ve said this one many times before. You have a unique way of talking and your marketing messaging needs to connect with people on a human level. Write like you talk. Ditch the jargon. Explain things in a way that intrigues them, lures them in or speaks exactly their language.  You can still tell someone you are a “financial planner” but talk about creating a happy, healthy, wealthy life on all fronts, not just financial. Or that smart financial planning now means realizing your dreams later. This is much more interesting than, “We’ll help you decide the best places to invest.” You can still tell a prospect that your software will help them manage their recruiting and talent management with integrated data and access to API’s, but you can also talk about helping companies and talented workers make a lasting love connection or that your software takes the hassle out of keeping track of all your candidates so you don’t even have to think about and no one falls through the cracks.

Being human in your marketing does not make you look unprofessional. In fact, let’s put that to bed right now. Professional does not have to equate to boring, stiff, jargon, robotic. It means competence, confidence and accountability. You can be all those things and still speak like a human.

  • Find rich, luscious, delicious words: You get my point. Expand your vocabulary and stop using every adjective you’ve ever heard your competitors use before.  Consult thesaurus.com and find better words for what you’re trying to say. It’s like adding exotic spices to your spice rack! Instead of “flexible” how about “We roll with the punches.” Instead of “effective” how about “compelling, potent or powerful”? Instead of “help” how about, “advise, nourish, encourage”? Choose words that rev up the senses: words people can see, hear, taste. Use these words in your brand marketing to create mental imagery for people that excites them.

If you feel like jazzy writing is not your strong suit, that’s okay, Hire a gifted copywriter to help you add more charisma at precisely the right points in the process. For as much writing as I do, I’ve even done this for my own marketing (because sometimes you just can’t see it for yourself) and it’s made a WORLD of difference.

  • Leverage the power of video: What better way to connect your business to millions across the globe than through the power of video? More than words on a page, video helps you make a human connection (there’s that humanity again!) and enables people to see the real you or people behind your corporate logo. You Tube is the second largest search engine. Let people typing in how to do something find YOU there explaining it to them! Jazz up your static website with a welcome video or customers raving about you in video testimonials. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Your iPhone is one of the best cameras on the market. Just start. I’ve been trying to do more of this myself over on my YouTube channel (subscribe now if you’re not already!)

The key takeaway is that like anything else in life, you have to be interesting if you want to capture attention. And “charisma” is subjective. What might seem charismatic to software developers might not be to ad agency creative directors. Know your audience and you will find the best ways to lure them with your charms!