Melanie
The Monday Morning Marketing podcast is brought to you by Esther of IPA Group, bringing premier online promotion to your business.
Esther
And Melanie of STOMP Social Media Training, who empowers business owners to manage social media and marketing for themselves. And welcome back to another episode of The Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. Today we're talking about the importance of personalisation in marketing. What do we mean by that?
Melanie
This could be interpreted in many different ways, but the way we want to look at it today is how you can make yours stand out as an individual, how you can be representing yourself as a person, as something that's more identifiable than just a logo. So for us, I guess we've tried to have a bit of a laugh along the way. We don't take ourselves too seriously. And although we're both quite well established, we try not to take ourselves too seriously. I think we're hoping that that will help us stand out against the blazing row of other marketers out there who maybe are still incredibly professional, but they're not us at the end of the day, are they?
Esther
Exactly. So, like Melanie says, there are thousands, if not millions, of people out there who do exactly what we do, and probably the same in your industry as well. There are so many people that have maybe attended the same courses, maybe have learnt from the same Gurus, maybe they're all singing from the same song sheet, but your take on it, you putting your personalised stamp on it, is what will make people realise that it's not just another sales pitch, that you're not just saying exactly the same thing as everybody else.
Melanie
Your experiences and any past boo boo's that you have made, they're all going to have an impact. The kinds of questions that you've been approached with from your particular client, everything has made you who you are today. And It he fear I have, and I remember this so clearly, Esther, when I first started my business, I was looking at other established businesses and I was going, I want to be like them. I want to have the same team. I want to have all this marketing budget. I want to be like them. But then when you try to emulate somebody else, you just don't pull it off.
Esther
No, and you lose yourself in the process. So one thing that, as Melanie said, with our Monday morning marketing brand, we try to be funny. We try to be ourselves. I think, well, at least in my case with IPA Group, because there are so many of us and we're so different, we do have a different voice online than if it was just me running it or just me working behind the scenes. But you do have to have, even at that, you have to have a personalised stamp on it with a team or as an individual. So if you are naturally very outgoing in real life, portray that in your online persona as well. Don't go all formal and using big fancy words just because everyone else is doing it or because you think you should be doing it. Use your own tone of voice. I remember running a Twitter account for a lady in Texas, and I literally listened to podcasts that she had done. I listened to her and I as we were talking on the phone about what the end goal was, what the strategy was going to be. I heard her tone of voice. I heard the empathy in her voice. I wanted to bring all that across as her online, and I wanted her to see that that was where she was going to get the clients that she wanted, because they weren't going to show up in her office and all of a sudden be presented with somebody who says, y'all, hi y'all, if she doesn't say that online. So you have to have consistency across you as a person, you and your business and you online.
Melanie
So the struggle that I think we all experience when we do this, identifying your persona and your brand positioning and that stuff, comes from the fact that you're not that quirky, maybe. You're not that on-the-spot, clever, fast, witty type person. Not everybody is. Heck, we don't do that ourselves very much in fairness. But I think just by thinking, when somebody meets me for the first time, how do I introduce myself? Do I try and throw in a casual throw away thing? What clothing do I wear? What fun things do I do outside of work? What matters to me? I mean, one of my passions is the charity that I volunteer with, which is Cuidiu, and that's a parenting national charity here in the Republic of Ireland. I don't rant on about it all the time, but it is something that matters to me a lot. And every now and then I will share special days, fundraising events, or just talk about it. And that makes me slightly different. People can very quickly see that I am more on the side of parenting and support and families and that stuff. It doesn't mean I ignore cancer charities or pets or World Wildlife Fund or anything like that. It doesn't mean I ignore any of those, but this is one I really care about and get involved in. Now you don't need to share everything personal to you. You don't hear me talking about my kids all the time. You don't hear me talking about any other fun things I do outside of what I literally want you to know. But to give people a more rounded image of the person behind the brand is not a crime, but it's also not something that you have to do. It's not something you have to do, but it could help people understand where you come from. People buy from people and not from brands. So even the big, big brands, they will sponsor events that matter to them, and have nothing to do particularly with what that brand represents, but it might matter to the board of management or one of the directors or something like that.
Esther
Yeah, absolutely.
Melanie
Have a think about how you can separate a part of you and make it brandable, I suppose.
Esther
Yeah, that's a very good point where you don't have to share every intimate aspect of your life to be personal on online and in your marketing. Like Melanie says, you can give snapshots, you can give a little behind the scenes, you can give a little bit of brief information. People who go online and spill everything doesn't make them more relatable to people who don't say anything. But as Melanie said too, the little tiny bits of information that you can give people can help them to see that you are human and help them relate to you in a slightly deeper way that maybe they didn't think of before. So if you're involved in charities, talk about it. If you're involved in some burning issues, that world issues or causes or things that are close to your heart, mention those if it's applicable. We don't recommend going down the political route, unless that's a huge part of what you do. Be honest on social media too. It's one of those things that those lies can come back and bite you very quickly if you pretend to be somebody else or something else online, the truth will catch you up. And it's a lot harder to maintain a lie than to own your truth, no matter how hard you think it is. But personalising yourself, being personable online doesn't mean just always walking around in your brand colours, always spouting off about your giving all the information every time you meet somebody about what you do and how you help your customers, because that's just not what you would do in your home life. So trying to find that happy medium, that balance of how much do I want them to know? How much am I going to open myself up? How much am I going to be open and honest and expose parts of my life that maybe are very personal? It's all that balancing act of what you feel comfortable with and maybe pushing it a little bit so that you do stand out because lots of people could be involved in charities. Lots of people could be involved in world causes. What makes you different or your cause different or why you joined your cause different? Explain your why and it will make you human.
Melanie
I totally agree with that. And there are lots of different ways that you can make your business with its brand personalisation and uniqueness. It doesn't have to be, as Esther said, through just that one thing. It could be where you work from. We know some people who work from their gardens or workshops. It could be the specific industry you're in, or it could be your specific set of capabilities, your training, your experience. It could even be your vision, your mission and vision statement. We've talked about this before, so head back to one of our podcast where we chat about that. So it could even be your vision for yourself and for your clients that will make you a little bit more unique and a bit more personalised in that particular industry.
Esther
Yeah like I said just-.
Melanie
Try and write these down. As we're saying this, you may want to go back and listen to this again and then start writing some ideas down. Pause the podcast and write some stuff down and carry on again.
Esther
Yeah, like I said, go to your comfort zone and take one step forward.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
We're not asking you to reveal all your life secrets or your deepest, darkest information to people, just what you are comfortable with and a little bit more.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
That's it for today, guys. Do come and join us again next week. And as Melanie said, do take a listen back. And we hope to see you more personal, personalised online and in your marketing, which remember, isn't just online. And we'll be back next week with more Monday Morning Marketing. Until then, bye-bye.
Melanie
Bye, guys. Have a good week.
What makes you unique, do you think?
Esther
Well, apart from being bilingual.
Melanie
OK show-off.
Esther
You.
Melanie
I'm unique in that I've never bothered trying to grow my business. Yikes.
Esther
Well, there's still time.
