As trends come and go faster than ever, it is easy for small business owners to feel pressured into constantly re-inventing their brand. However, amidst this digital noise, one of the most powerful ways for small businesses to stand out is by embracing their roots and committing to them. By grounding your marketing in the history and values that have shaped and continue to shape your company, you can build a stronger connection with your audience while positioning your business for forward momentum in the future.
In this blog, we will review some of the ways in which small business owners can find out what is at the heart of their business and use it to create powerful connections with new and existing customers.
What is Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
In marketing, a business’s unique selling proposition (USP) explains to consumers why your product or service is better than alternatives that your competitors can offer. Often, your USP will coincide with your business’s core values, revealing what is truly at the heart of your business.
By assessing your target audience, competitors’ offerings, and the benefits of your own products or services in comparison, your business will be able to derive a USP statement that highlights why customers should bring their business to you rather than to your competitors. When thinking about your USP, it is important to remember to focus on the needs of your target market. Asking key questions about your target audience’s needs and wants will help you to avoid highlighting an offering of your business that is not relevant to your current or prospective customer base.
For example, in the fast-paced online landscape of today, interesting challenges have arisen for independent retailers competing with big-box stores and online marketplaces. While independent retailers may be less able to compete with these competitors on price, they are able to offer a level of personalization and expertise that their competition cannot. These unique offerings can reveal what is at the heart of an independent retailer’s business—personal relationships within the community that they serve. For many independent retailers, this will become their unique selling proposition.
Embrace Your Roots in Your Marketing
Once you have determined what is at the heart of your business’s offerings, or your unique selling proposition (USP), you can begin to create a marketing strategy that highlights your business’s roots and unique offerings. There are many different ways brands may choose to go about creating a marketing plan that embraces their history and propels them into the future.
1. Telling Your Brand’s Story
Your business is unique, and the story of your brand’s beginning can draw customers in. Whether yours is a story of humble beginnings, a founder’s larger-than-life visions, or the evolution of a multi-generational family business, showcasing this narrative can set your company apart. Today, consumers are drawn to real people’s real stories, and sharing yours can breed a sense of trust and loyalty with new and existing customers.
2. Highlighting Core Values
As your company set out to enter the competitive business world, it was likely guided by a set of core values in its development. These values are an important part of your brand’s makeup and can be powerful tools to wield in your marketing. Whether they revolve around top-notch customer service, quality products, or innovation, your company values are timeless. Highlighting these core values as principles that your business initially prioritized and remains committed to even as the business evolves characterizes your brand as consistent and trustworthy to consumers.
3. Creating Emotional Connections with Customers
Your company’s history isn’t just a timeline; it’s an emotional journey. Sharing the challenges, victories, and important milestones that have defined your company allows you to establish an emotional connection with customers. Customers are more likely to bring their business to a place that makes them feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves, and by weaving your business’s history into your marketing, you can create a sense of togetherness and unity with both new and existing customers.
4. Emphasizing Community Roots in Your Brand’s Efforts
For businesses with strong local ties, celebrating these roots in your marketing can be a powerful way to position your brand as an institution in your community. Consumers increasingly seek out businesses that reflect the culture and community around them, so showcasing your business’s connection to the people of the area that it serves can strengthen customer loyalty and build a more engaged customer base. Whether you’re emphasizing a product made with locally-sourced ingredients, celebrating a cultural tradition that has shaped your community, or publicizing your charitable efforts to give back, tapping into these roots can give your brand a sense of authenticity that resonates with your local target audience.
5. Using Tradition to Drive Innovation
The beauty of embracing your traditional roots in your marketing is that it provides a foundation for future innovation. When your business is firmly grounded in its history and values, it becomes easier to innovate in a way that is authentic and consistent with your brand. This approach allows your marketing to evolve with the times without losing sight of what made your business successful in the first place.
For example, the digital age saw an increase in online shopping, offering consumers the opportunity to prioritize convenience in their shopping experience. Many independent retailers offer a level of personalization that is at the heart of their business, and moving to fully online-based selling would not be consistent with their core values and USP. Thus, curbside pickup became an offering that many retailers adopted, allowing them to prioritize the customer’s convenience while still offering the experience of high-quality, personalized customer service.
Embrace Your Roots with Marketing by The VAN LEUVEN Company
At The VAN LEUVEN Company, we know that your business has a unique story, and we want to help you tell it. Your values, unique offerings, and history shape the identity of your business, which is why we don’t believe in following every new trend that comes along or constant re-invention of your brand. What is at the heart of your business deserves to be showcased, and with our team of marketing professionals, we can help you leverage what makes you unique to create lasting relationships with customers. Our roots make us who we are, and we can look to them to provide the direction for our future.
Let’s move into tomorrow without forgetting who we were yesterday. Contact us today to learn more about how The VAN LEUVEN Company can help you embrace your roots in your marketing.