When I think about my favorite brands, a few common themes appear. They all provide a good product or service, and they all have a level of transparency that helps me to trust in their authenticity. A 2013 survey by Ipsos Observer discovered that 61% of consumers felt more positive about a brand when its marketing was personalized. Furthermore, the same survey found that consumers were 53% “more likely to purchase when a brand personalizes digital communication.”
In light of these findings, we decided to discover some of the best ways companies are using personalization to elevate their brands.
Using Real Faces
Save your money on stock photography. What better way to personalize your brand than by showing your consumers who you really are? The official website for the Romo Robot does this very well in its About Us page, where you can see the faces of the developers behind an innovative tech product. The best part— when you roll over the images of their faces, you see the goofy sides of each employee. Without many words, the company sends a message that they work hard and play hard, too. Plus, you get a healthy dose of real personality through a few simple clicks.
Fun Shows Everyone’s Good Side
Laughing is a universal language. Adding a dash of fun creates a great opportunity to let your company’s style and personality shine beyond the use of real faces—whether it’s through humorous facts, engaging stories or a memorable web design. New York design firm Doberman excels at this. They use facts about their company to inject humor (they point out their company was founded in 1998, the same year that Britney Spears released her debut single) and creative typography to showcase skills and a fun work personality.
Being Socially Engaging
Responding to people on social media is a great way to personalize your brand, address concerns or comments about your product and create a positive interaction with your consumers. By having conversations (whether playful or serious) with consumers, you can help engender trust and brand loyalty. Walgreens engaged so well with this one customer by “taking the time to acknowledge that I am more than a number, more than an address,” that she was inspired to spread positive messages about the brand through video, tweets and a blog post. Your brand’s engagement can spark further engagement from your fans.
Keeping Up Blogs
Keeping up an official company blog is a great way to personalize your brand and keep the conversations going about your products. By giving company writers the ability to share their thoughts with an informal, conversational tone, you let individuality shine through, which your consumers can connect with and trust.
Whole Foods is a company that carries out this tactic effectively. Flip through any page of blog posts and you’ll find several recipes catered to the consumers’ lifestyle. Personally, what makes me respect Whole Foods is that the recipes shared on the blog don’t list off ingredients specific to Whole Foods. Instead, the recipes offer up helpful suggestions to the consumer, without forcing the Whole Foods brand down your throat (pun intended). As a result, the recipes feel genuine, as if they are coming from a good friend rather than a brand that’s begging me to buy only from them.
What other ways have you seen brand personalization at play? Let us know in the comments!
