Customers who feel emotionally connected to a brand are more likely to maintain loyalty to said brand. Building that connection can be difficult for a business, but let’s remember that your business was built by you, a human. In a time where every company is vying for attention, you can use your hobbies and passions to gain the attention of your consumers.
Social media simultaneously provides more opportunities to connect with your customers than ever before while providing a great platform to humanize your brand and build trust with consumers.
The down side: your competitors know this to be true, as well! You need to stand out from the crowd and apart from your competition, while actively communicating to your target audience that you know their pain and you have the solution to their shared problem. How? By sharing what you love.
I don’t mean telling them your favorite flavor of ice cream. I’m talking about sharing your passions, hobbies and interests.
Emotions are a huge part of decision making, as much as we love to deny it. Your customers make emotional decisions every single time they interact with your brand. It doesn’t mean they’re having some kind of epiphany every time they make a purchase, but they buy a product or service based on their connection to your brand. They also feel the anticipation of happiness when they decide to buy.
Hobbies Play a Vital Role
Authenticity – People are incredibly good at spotting fake enthusiasm. You can’t fake happiness when you’re talking about something you love. If you share your passion in a video on social media or write about it in a blog post, your genuine enthusiasm will show. It’s real and being real humanizes your otherwise cold and unfeeling brand.
Trust – Your customers will gain insight into who you are and what drives your brand. This insight will help you connect with your customers, building more brand trust. By nerding out about your hobbies, you’re not selling them anything. You’re simply sharing a little bit about who you are.
Relatability – Almost every single person has a hobby. Even if it’s not the same as yours, people will know the feeling of being completely absorbed in a pastime. We all have that one thing we could talk about for hours and hours. Your customers will be able to relate to you through this.
Conversation starter – In the same vein of relatability, sharing your hobbies is a great conversation starter; a way to encourage your customers to interact on social media. Just like you could talk at length about your own hobby, your customers will be only too happy to share their own passions, taking pride as if they are “in the know”. This allows them the opportunity to feel valued beyond what they contribute to your bottom line.
In closing, if you connect with your customers it plays a HUGE role in strengthening consumer loyalty, generating FREE word-of-mouth advertising, building brand credibility, and helping you stand out from the competition. When consumers feel they have a story to share, they will be only too willing to spread the word about you and your brand to anyone and everyone. It’s a win-win!
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