Connections and Relationships

Changing your logo won’t make you rich.

Advertising your brand might be worthless.

Instead, if growing your business is important, focus on Connections and Relationships.

I do a lot of reading and observing.  I take pride in the fact that I have a pretty diverse circle of friends of all ages.  Some are in their 70’s pushing 80 and others are just old enough to vote in the next election.

Personally, I have worked in show business and as an entry level material handler in a factory.  I enjoy my relationships with millionaires and with people who are working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

What’s this have to do with branding, marketing and advertising your logo?

Let me tell you.

We the people of this United States value a few things over everything else:

1. Trust
2. Honesty
3. Hope

I’ll go deeper.

We want to Trust that when ever we are going to spend money on something, that we are paying the right price, not getting ripped off with a bunch of hype and advertising promises that aren’t really true.

We crave Honesty in our business dealings.  We understand that no one is perfect, but when something happens that needs fixed or corrected. don’t weasel your way out of it.  Be honest.  Do what you can to fix the problem.  By the way, you will earn greater loyalty by fixing a problem for someone than if everything went smoothly the first time.

Also we want to be optimistic in this country of ours.  No matter what we are buying, we want to have hope that the purchase we are making will improve our lives. This is the Hope I am talking about. The new car, and the box of cereal, both purchases are based on Hope to fill a need or desire.

Here’s a couple of ways to implement these three values:

First off, live them.  Not just you, but everyone in your business.  The front line clerks and staff that deal with the public, your customers everyday need to convey Trust, Honesty and Hope in their actions and attitude.  You need to model it and live it so it can be passed down the line.

This is what builds relationships and relationships build your business.

I call this your Internal Marketing.  It’s what you do to give your customers a good feeling about being your customer.

Your External Marketing is about making that initial connection outside of your business location.  It’s about inviting people to check you out, inviting them to browse your place and look around.  Doesn’t matter if it is online or in person, the same principle applies.

Your External Marketing includes your paid advertising.  You need to be consistent in conveying Trust, Honesty, and Hope in your ads that reflect the customer experience that you have built in your company.

I’m going to tell you why I work in the radio industry and not some other form of media or advertising sales.  It has a lot to do with what I have just said.  And it is more true right now with where I work at WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana compared to nearly any other place I have worked in media.

As a former radio personality, I experienced first hand the power of listeners making a connection with the voice on the other end.  My first wife and mother of my kids, met me because I was on the radio.

When a radio personality does it correctly, he or she can create an intimacy with individual listeners that is as strong as a lot of in-person friendships.

Television personalities can do this too to a certain degree, but studies have shown that the bond isn’t as personal as radio personalities can create.

What about social media advertising? Billboard advertising? Newspaper, magazine, placemat, direct mail advertising?  Those are just ads.  There might be a bit of connecting, but certainly not relationship building.

The kind of relationship building via radio advertising with WOWO occurs on many levels.  Long time listeners to the station consider WOWO as a trusted source of news and information as they have been a leader in providing that since before I was a kid and have continued the past couple of decades as a news and talk radio station.  That trust in the station is also transferred to the businesses that advertise on WOWO.

A deeper level of trust is established when one of our personalities talks about your business, in either a short sponsorship message or as a personal endorsement or testimonial.  Man, those types of ads are extremely powerful because they combine all the elements we’ve been talking about today. Trust, Honesty and Hope thru Connections and Relationships.

Want to know more?  Let’s talk.  Drop me a note to Scott @ScLoHo.net.