Small business marketing is hard. There you go, we said it! But only if you don’t remember two key things - always think like your customer and remember your personality matters. If you master those, then it’s not so tough. There you go, we said it!
That’s a lovely opening paragraph to grab the reader's attention (see what we did there…) but what does including your personality in your marketing mean?
People Buy From People
Before the pandemic, we had started to see a trend of people wanting to support small & local businesses, which was then magnified during that tough period. Whilst that is great news for all small businesses, we should never take that for granted - partly because there are literally millions of small businesses in this country for them to support!
Therefore, if we want our small business marketing to work, we need to ensure our personality shines through in our marketing. People choose a small business because they feel like they are helping individuals, not corporations, but if they don’t know who you are and what you stand for, why would they choose you?
This doesn’t mean you have to be on camera all the time. Every social post doesn’t have to be a video of you talking. Your website doesn’t have to be your life story. BUT. You have to find ways to get your personality, your values, and your beliefs, to come across in everything you do.
At the end of this article, you’ll see some examples of what we mean. Still, the main thing to remember is that your best customer will love you, so you have nothing to be afraid of and anyone who’s not drawn to what you believe - well they probably aren't your type of customer anyway.
There Is Only One You
One of the great challenges in marketing is standing out from the crowd. Most businesses (and I include Future Mantis in that) have competition. It might not be a direct competitor doing exactly the same, but there is always someone else that people could spend their money on or their time engaging with.
When we help people understand the formula for how to stand out from the crowd, we talk about a combination of your proposition, your audience and YOU. One thing is for certain, no competitor has you, so you really can make the difference.
Getting your personality across in your marketing is a way to distinguish your business. It’s at the heart of successful small business marketing. The more people understand your story and what you bring to the table, the more of a relationship you build. Marketing is about making connections and people connect with people better than faceless brands.
One final thought on this area, for most small businesses, their ideal customer shares their values and beliefs. Therefore, the more your personality comes across in your marketing and you showcase your values, the more people are drawn to your business.
Small Business Marketing Examples
Here are a few ideas about how you put personality into your small business marketing and one real world example that we love.
Tell Your Story
The about section of a small business website is under-utilised. So many never have one at all (why would people want to know about us) and those that do, typically just explain what they do and when they started. We don’t need this information here. We need your story.
Tell us how the business was founded, what was the motivation? If the business came from a personal frustration, need or maybe unfortunate circumstances, then tell people. This is how we build a connection because many of your potential customers will have been on the same journey and this will build a connection.
Explain the Name Or Logo
Another technique we’ve seen used really well is someone explaining why the name of the business was selected or even the inspiration behind the logo. Of course, this is only relevant if there is meaning behind this! Bonus tip - these often work as a short video at the bottom of an About page.
Show People The Process
One of the best ways to show off your personality, style and values is by letting people behind the door. If you are a maker, people love to see how something is made - baking the cake, painting the picture or building that furniture.
If you present workshops, let's see a clip of you in action. Could we see pictures of you at a client meeting? If you have to collect materials, maybe show that trip and explain why you’ve picked the suppliers you did.
You Are Not Just A Business Owner
The final thing to remember is you are not just someone who runs a business, you are a person. Let’s hear occasionally about what else is going on. You don’t need to get deeply personal, but maybe you took a day off to go to the school play or ran your first 10k and feel great about it.
Put little things on your social channels to show the person behind the business. In a monthly newsletter, always add a little story about non-work stuff. If you present live, include stories from outside of work.
Hopefully, that’s been useful in showing how to add personality to your small business marketing and why it is so important.
We wanted to end with a bonus tip.
“Write How You Talk”
The more you sound like you, the more personal your brand becomes. The greater the chance you’ll connect with people, the better the chances they will buy from you and not someone else. Don’t overthink it, be as natural as possible and write exactly how you would talk to someone about what you do.
Whoops, we promised an example of someone putting personality into their marketing that we love. Whilst they have gone on to become a huge brand, when this video from a small start-up called “Dollar Shave Club’ went live, they were hardly known, yet this one example drew millions of people in and created a brand that sustains today.