Large companies cannot afford to communicate in a highly individualized way with every individual customer. They can, however, avoid making a customer feel like just a number out of millions of other numbers.
Think locally
We recently conducted a media consumption survey for one of our clients, and roughly thirteen-thousand people participated in the survey. One of the results that was most surprising to me was the frequency with which people referred to their local newspaper for information.
There is a tremendous amount of power in “local.” People tend to trust local sources and have sentimental ties to local elements. There also tends to be an assumed quality to small, locally produced products. The question is, how can larger businesses capitalize on small and “local”?
Dream big, but think small
You can’t take the “mass” out of mass media, but you can remove the mass mentality. People do not normally think as a mass. People think as individuals within the context of their own lives, their social ties, their families, and their predispositions.
While your content may be distributed to the masses, communicate to individuals by addressing potential customers and their lives directly. Always address subjects personally; “I,” “we,” and “you” connect much better than “it,” “those,” and “that.” There are plenty of television commercials that use the personal address, but don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and implement this elsewhere. Your support sites and social media outlets are a good place to start.
While it will always be impossible to please everyone and to engage with every one of your customers, the very fact that you make the effort with as many people as you can will go a long way. Customers notice direct feedback to their support questions, comments, or criticism in various channels. Even if their specific query has not been addressed, your engagement in human interaction can create a lasting impression.
Small changes to small details can pay off big
The internet brings new capabilities to the table when it comes to content distribution, and the smallest details can make the greatest difference. Geo-targeting is one such capability that opens a lot of doors for advertisers.
When sending out content, whether through email, Twitter, Facebook updates, or any other social media platform, utilize the tools provided to ensure timely delivery. In sending out emails for our clients, we often use separate lists to stagger the emails according to time zone. This can be especially important in social media, since content sent too early or late can be buried so far down the list that it is never seen.
Go a step further and take 15 minutes of your content producers’ time to include even just one geographically relevant reference. If thousands of customers live in California, for instance, it would be time well spent to include a reference to make the content more local than just something sent out to the entire world.
Speak to their home
image via flickr @TMView
You don’t actually even have to know where their home is, but if you can make people think about what it is that they consider home, you can capitalize on the sentiments and nostalgia tied there.
For one client in the food industry, this meant highlighting the value of fresh, locally grown food. This obviously means different things to different people in different places.
Takeaway
By thinking local and thinking small, you can gain big. In an age of content overload, people are becoming accustomed to finding content relevant to them. While large businesses cannot tailor their content to each individual, they can increase the relevance of their messaging.
