We hope you have had a chance to run your stories through the criteria we discussed in our last post.
Do you now have a set of great stories that you are ready to share with your audience? If you do, that’s great! If not, you can still take a crack at it!
It is now time to figure out how to leverage those stories so you can maximize exposure and consequently growth!
Today, we'll focus on customer stories. These stories will most likely take the form of testimonials and successful case studies from customers who gave your brand a chance and were rewarded for doing so.
Again, as we've mentioned in a previous post, these are some of the most powerful stories you can highlight in your marketing campaigns because they'll speak to your core audience in a very unique and personal way.
When a customer can first-hand witness how your offering worked for someone they can relate to, it will motivate them into taking action. It can act as a validation that enables their decision to follow and invest their time & effort in your company's offering.
As angel investors, we like to speak to as many of your customers during our due diligence stage as we can - customer feedback trumps everything! These conversations often pose as social proof, market validation, and assures potential customers (and sometimes investors) that you have what it takes to follow through on your promises.
Follow-up with customers who have bought and used your products and discover how your products have helped them.
This can be done easily, even if you have not officially launched a product. How? You can offer media copies or access to beta testing. Not only will this help you improve your products and services before they go to market, but it'll make it easy for you to collect positive testimonials from within your market.
Can you integrate testimonials and case studies directly into your marketing campaigns? This should go beyond your sales page. Use them within blog posts, newsletters and advertisements. Why not feature them on your social media campaigns or Facebook, LinkedIn groups?
The more you spread a message of positivity that demonstrates your ability to create products and services that truly help your audience, the easier it will be to maximize sticky growth while building a loyal audience.
This is a tricky one. You do not want to be seen as a sell-out, but you do not want to fool your customers either. But, your customers and beta testers aren't the only source for testimonials that will boost growth. Have you considered sponsored reviews or feedback from influencers in your market? This is different from brand ambassadors or paid ads - this is utilizing an industry influencer and piggybacking on their reach.
This will cost you money but can easily double or even triple your income, not to mention exposure because you'll be able to tap into an existing audience that you may otherwise not have access to. It so happens that customers trust micro-influencers to be impartial and true to their followers - often resulting in honest feedback that these followers love!
In our next post, we'll look at the different ways you can weave these stories into a successful product launch.