It’s easier than ever to start a company, with the internet and social media allowing for direct-to-consumer companies to reach potential customers anywhere, anytime. But this type of market saturation comes with its own set of complications, one of the most prominent being the struggle for new brands to stand out from their competitors. So, how can companies distinguish themselves in such an overcrowded industry?
The answer is a simple one: purpose-led marketing.
[To read more of Erik Huberman’s thought leadership click here]
Marketing with Purpose Leads to Cult-Like Success
Purpose is taking the stage as the heart of marketing, and with good reason! Finding and implementing brand purpose into your marketing has been shown to lead to incredible growth.
Purpose is often conflated to mean a brand’s commitment to social responsibility, but it’s actually much simpler than that. A brand’s purpose is simply the consumer needs it fills and the qualities that drive consumers to choose that brand over its competitors. In the simplest of terms, it’s leading your marketing with purpose works because it makes people care.
Consumers are inundated with options and choices. Businesses and employees need to be aware of their overall purpose in order to reach the highest levels of success. Purpose gets at the emotional side of someone versus objectively offering up the facts of a product.
In a recent survey, 80 percent of companies stated that a collective purpose is linked to customer loyalty and 89 percent said that it helps employee satisfaction. Companies need to do a compelling job of convincing consumers, and if you can convince those consumers on an emotional level, you win.
Figure Out Why You Exist
Purpose reflects the merit, trustworthiness, and authenticity of a brand. All of those traits, in turn, speak to the brand’s potential for success. Trust and authenticity are two incredibly important traits to today’s consumer, with consumers becoming increasingly distrustful of ads and the brands behind them. Unifying a brand’s purpose with its message will inevitably help the brand create meaningful content and form an authentic connection with consumers.
The key to determining your brand’s purpose is figuring out your reason for existence.
The key to determining your brand’s purpose is figuring out your reason for existence. What is going to make a consumer pick you over your competitors? Is your company made up of individuals who support and embody that same purpose? Do your consumers know or care about your purpose and share that passion?
One event that highlights the brands that have built an empire around their purpose is The Gathering. There, the focus is on “cult” companies, those that have an “above average brand attachment,” recognizing and rewarding brands that build amazing cultures. Many of the brands awarded during The Gathering have been around and relevant for at least a decade because of their ability to uniquely engage their audiences.
If you want your brand to reach the same success, you must refine your craft and figure out what about your brand makes you special. What do you offer consumers that no other business does?
[For more on Hawke Media’s approach to Digital Agency click here]
