It’s an exciting time for Millennials to enter the entrepreneurial world. For you as a member of a generational cohort that is born into technology, some key trends such as business automation, increased productivity, instant communication, and personalized user experiences are already a priority.
Still, to target the right audiences and promote your business properly, you first need to build a solid brand around it.
Support a Social Cause
Even with top-notch products, amazing customer experiences, and spotless ratings, your Millennial-owned business needs to offer something more to its customers. In its recent post, TheBeardMag explains that customers are now more socially aware. When buying from a brand continuously, they want to feel like they’re making a difference.
According to Clutch, 75% of consumers are more eager to do business with brands that support social issues relevant to them. They say that giving back to the local community, social responsibility, and sustainability are key traits they’re looking for in brands.
The idea is to spread the word about the social cause you support and, at the same time, brand yourself as a socially responsible brand. For example, have a website page dedicated to your social activism. Talk about it actively on social networks and explain how your business is helping the community. Produce content, such as short videos, articles, podcasts, or infographics to inform your audiences about this social issue.
Create Content that Engages
With millions of online posts that are getting published every 60 seconds, you need to have a solid content marketing strategy in order to stand out. For starters, observe your customers’ behaviors online and see what kind of content resonates with them.
In addition to traditional articles, there are many content forms that may work for you, including infographics, webinars, podcasts, comprehensive guides, ebooks, etc. Interactive content forms, such as social media stories, quizzes, creative chatbot narratives, have also been gaining momentum recently.
Many businesses today use podcasts, an increasingly popular form of marketing content. Podcasts offer companies a way to share their expertise and insights with a broad audience in an engaging and convenient format. Videos are another great way to create engaging and informative content that can be shared across multiple channels. If your marketing budget allows, you can collaborate with a video production agency to get videos that showcase products or services, tell a company story, or provide educational information. Similarly, live streaming is another popular format that allows businesses to connect with their audiences in real time. Live streaming can be used for product demonstrations, webinars, or live Q&As.
Sure, if you want to invest in highly authentic and high-quality content, consider outsourcing content design to a creative agency like Infostarters. Graphic design professionals that have experience in your niche will understand your brand and help you inject consistency and core brand values into each piece of content you create.
Harness the Power of Recommendation
Studies show that 84% of customers rely on recommendations from friends and families over brand promotions. Moreover, they search for other customers’ experiences online. They’re reading blog posts, searching for influencer recommendations, and reading online reviews when making shopping decisions.
Apart from seeking feedback, they will also share their own experiences online, both positive and negative. So, ask customers for feedback. Get them to review and rate your products/services on social networks, encourage user-generated content, conduct customer satisfaction surveys, ask for testimonials, and listen to them online. Make customer feedback available to the public and always use it as an opportunity to improve your business.
Get Noticed Everywhere
Your customers are using several networks and devices when interacting with brands. Therefore, to reach out to them, you need to know what channels they use and be there.
This is where you, as a tech-savvy Millennial business owner, have a great competitive advantage.
For starters, create a user-friendly and responsive website. To make it easier to find, invest early in SEO to appear higher in the SERPs.
To increase your reach, use social networks. Focus on those social channels that make sense for your industry and your customers. Use these channels to build stronger relationships with your audiences, create a growing online community, and deliver genuine value to your followers. Have a consistent tone of voice, share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and work with industry influencers to humanize your brand.
Publish high-quality content on your blog and relevant blogs in your niche. Fresh, informative, and engaging content will help you position yourself as an authoritative resource and drive loads of new traffic and leads to your site. Here’s a great article from the guerrilla agency: Beginner’s Guide to SEO.
The wider your digital footprint, the greater the chances of you being found by the right audiences.
Over to You
Even though we’re living in the world, where “there is an app for everything,” there are certain elements of your business that need to be highly personalized. One of them is certainly your brand. Your customers are not buying from you just because they like your products or blog posts. For inspiration read about Adam Harry Guild and how he grew a multi-million business at the age of 18.
Instead, they buy the complete package – your brand story, culture, quality, missions, and values. These are some core principles that determine your price and industry credibility and, as such, need to be woven into each aspect of your brand.