A worldview is a philosophy or set of values through which people interpret and interact with the world. Do you understand what this is for your ideal customers?
Communities align with businesses and brands that reaffirm their worldview. Tweet this
This is the power of your story.
The Market Shapes Your Story
When you launched your small business, you most likely tested the idea by sharing it with friends who eagerly supported you. In fact, a few of them probably became your first customers.
If your business delivered on its promise, those early customers shared your story with their friends, at least to the extent that they understood it.
What happened over time is their worldview shaped your story to become what it is today. This is a subtle, yet powerful aspect of marketing that many businesses miss.
Most businesses are so busy promoting the features of their latest products that they forget it’s what their customers are saying that matters most. That’s because their friends are listening to them. Having a digital marketing company in Honolulu, Hawaii backing your business with superior SEO can truly improve your revenue.
Learn Which Words Trigger a Response
If you are intentionally listening, the key words that your customers identify with will jump out of the conversation. They are embedded in their stories, and should be in yours too.
Study these words, because they become triggers for attracting others that share their worldview. They reveal what it is about your business that gets and keeps people associated with it. Most important, it gives you a better understanding of who they are as human beings.
- What they say and do
- How they think and feel
- What they see and hear
Hopefully, that last one is your media, provided your media is congruent with the other media they engage with that reaffirms their views.
Therefore, commit to making a list of the media sources they follow. Then have your team subscribe to and get familiar with them.
Get Involved with Customers to Learn
A young couple that was a customer of my landscape business shared something with me that changed how we marketed and operated. They said: “You know what we like about you Jeff? You’re a neatnik.”
The word neatnik is an old-fashioned one you would not expect someone in their twenties to use, so that caught my attention. After translating neatnik to attention to detail, suddenly a lot of things became very clear.
We soon discovered our customers valued the little touches that personalized our company and the people within it. This included picking up the newspaper from the driveway when greeting the customer at the front door, and how our mowing crews neatly rolled up the garden hose instead of just tossing it into the bushes like so many other companies.
What is it about your business that resonates with how your customers see the world? Tweet this
This is what shapes the stories they tell about you and your business? I’ll give you a clue; it’s not quality.
Quality is a meaningless word these days. Reliability, simplicity, consistency, friendliness, and attention to detail are examples of what people talk about.
This is the new marketing. It’s what drives online and offline conversations.
About the Author: Jeff Korhan, MBA, is the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – (Wiley)
He helps mainstream businesses adapt their traditional growth practices to a digital world. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
