Co-founder of Harlow—an all-in-one tool to help freelancers get organized, save time and look professional.
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How and why people buy is changing. Millennials and Gen-Z don’t click the first ad they see and follow the traditional buying cycle. Tried and true demand generation tactics are no longer so true. Getting to your target user takes more than solid SEO and a consistent social presence. To build a vibrant business over the long term, you need to make real connections with your audience. Newer generations care more about how brands make them feel. In other words, brand affinity is more important now than ever.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok are becoming increasingly important as the younger generation gets their news, tips, and entertainment from these places. Authentic user-generated content and word of mouth on those platforms are winning the next generation. They want to know why their friends, family and the people they admire care about and love your brand.
By being the most helpful and valuable brand in your space, you can win and really build something meaningful. Here’s how you do that.
• Listen to your audience. Building a product is part of the process, but what does your audience really need to be successful? What other pain points or growth challenges can you help them solve?
• Identify and validate pain points. Once you’ve identified some shortcomings and growth challenges, it’s time to validate them with your target market. This can look like a series of interviews or social polls.
• Choose the right tone to resonate with your audience. Building brand affinity is all about creating trust, authority and sympathy with your audience. Depending on who your audience is, this could mean taking a softer approach, adding levity and humor, or just getting to the point.
• Create content and develop a following. Once you’ve set your tone, start creating content and building a community that supports your audience. That means getting out from behind the brand wall to really connect with people – build real relationships with them, raise their voices, celebrate their achievements and treat them like you would a friend. It’s not transactional; it’s human.
The key takeaways here are to never give up on your efforts to build real connections with your audience. This should be your top priority. Respond to your followers’ DMs and support requests with empathy and sincerity. Share your audience’s posts or conduct interviews with them to amplify their voices. You can even do this by highlighting another customer in a recurring newsletter.
The secret ingredient to community success isn’t so secret or mysterious: it’s just consistency. You have to move authentically and really want your community to flourish and succeed. See their success as your success. But regardless of the impact on your business, just watching your customers grow and evolve can be incredibly rewarding.
Unlike demand generation strategies of the past, which focused on specific technology and platforms, the community will never become obsolete. People will always need and want people around them – to learn with them, grow with them and celebrate with them. Creating a community within and around your brand is a surefire way to build a strong, lasting foundation. You focus your energy on what ultimately matters most: people.
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