The five best words you can hear a customer say are, “That’s interesting. Tell me more.”
When you get a customer to say, “That’s interesting. Tell me more,” you’ve caught their attention. They’re listening. They’re responding. They’re having a conversation. And this is powerful.
Conversations make your brand sticky.
Every company has an opportunity to engage its customers in conversation, but few do. They’re too busy marketing and selling to slow down to have a dialogue. But a conversation may be the most powerful marketing tool in your toolbox, because it’s the most effective way to form a relationship with your customers.
Conversations Lead to Relationships
Customers are looking for ways to differentiate one option from the next.
As competition increases, human connections become even more valuable. When the buying options all look very similar customers will default to one of two positions:
- They’ll go with what they know, or
- They’ll go with what’s cheapest.
Selling on price is no way to grow a brand. Lean on the first option. Build strong relationships with your customers so they know you, like you, and trust you.
A conversation is one of the most human ways to form a relationship. It helps transition your brand from a stranger to a friend to a customer. And that two-way dialogue accelerates the process. It helps you get to know one another, and that makes your brand more likable.
Use Brand Storylines to Spark Conversations
It gets pretty boring if all you talk about is yourself. The same is true for your companies. Engage your customers with Brand Storylines.
Brand Storylines are a communication device to engage your customers in a conversation.
Brand Storylines are unique because they are not just conversations about the weather or sports, and they are not one sided pitches promoting your brand. They are conversations crafted to engage your marketplace and keep your brand top of mind.
Brand Storylines are effective marketing tools, because they are crafted to connect conversations to your brand.
A Brand Storyline has three fundamental elements:
- Expertise: It’s a topic you and your team know well, and draws from your company’s core expertise.
- Strong Opinions: It’s a topic your company is passionate about. You can take a stance and boldly share your opinions.
- Point of Sharing: The topic resonates with your target market, and encourages others to participate in the conversation.
The three elements function as a three-legged stool. A Brand Storyline is unsustainable if any one of the elements is missing. For example, Strong Opinions without Expertise is a rant. Expertise without Strong Opinions is boring. And without a Point of Sharing you’re talking to yourself.
Get Customers to Say, “That’s Interesting. Tell Me More.”
You know your Brand Storylines are working when you hear customers say, “That’s interesting. Tell me more.”
Those five words reveal so much. You can see the storyline is resonating. It transitions the customer from being a passive receiver of marketing messages to an active participant. It engages them with your brand, and it motivates them to ask questions.
Conversations lead to relationships. Any time you get a customers to say, “That’s interesting. Tell me more,” you have an opportunity to grow the relationship. And with each interaction you reinforce your brand and make it more likable.
