Enhancing your brand’s reputation is vital to your success.That’s no secret, brand spends millions upon millions in the hopes that you will think positively of them. However, chances are you don’t have millions to spend on enhancing your brand’s reputation. This means you need to be more creative, and one of the best ways to enhance your brand’s reputation is by speaking. Getting in front of your people and actually connecting with them is huge avenue to develop a positive brand reputation. But how exactly do you speak so that people will resonate with what you have to say and your brand?
By developing a great speech or presentation. Presentations allow for more customized messaging and creative narrative, as well as meaningful, personal interactions with consumers. Here are 5 ways you can further develop your brand reputation during a presentation:
Tell a story
According to a 2002 study, the decision a consumer makes to continue or discontinue loyalty to a brand is made emotionally or behaviorally – not factually. There is really no way around it. Seasoned marketing strategist and brand strategists (including ourselves) place storytelling at the forefront of not just your brand strategy, but your business strategy. Why? Because stories make emotional connections and drastically increase customer retention rates.
Aim to inspire
Customers, consumers, and audiences look away in disdain if they feel like all a brand is trying to do is sell them on a product. They want to be inspired. To feel a part of something bigger than themselves. They want to feel like they are contributing to a greater good by investing in a brand. Craft your presentation with an emphasis on striking a motivational and inspirational tone. For example, ditch the third person pronouns and utilize the first person to help audience members envision themselves as a part of a unit. A part of your brand. Many brands make inspiration the core foundation of their brand altogether. Think Nike – Just Do It or North Face – Never Stop Exploring.
Promote open dialogue
Because customers and consumers grow weary of a brand that is only trying to sell them, you need to convince them that you are not. One way is to develop a two-way dialogue. Create a conversation, not a sales pitch. You can integrate this strategy by incorporating Q+A sessions or other discussion activities between you and the audience or between members of the audience. This allows the audience to reflect both positively and negatively, but also organically. You want an audience member to conclude that they like your brand on their own. An open dialogue also allows you to gain feedback and incorporate it, making your customers feel heard.
Provide valuable information
A presentation, or speech is only worth giving if it disseminates quality content. Welcome to the information age, the inbound marketing age. Good information is now expected, so you must deliver. You don’t have to share the location of the fountain of youth, but it does have to be capable of making an impact. This builds trust and authority, key components of a positive brand reputation.
Demonstrate responsiveness
According to an Invoke Solutions study, 30% of respondents regarded responsiveness as extremely important to trusting a company or business. What does this mean? Follow up! Give people a reason to further interact with your brand, and develop a strategy where you are in further communication with them. Go beyond a follow up email where you simply try to sell them – get creative, cultivate community, and be responsive to your audience’s wants, desires and objections.
Unless you have millions to spend on brand advertising, enhancing your company’s brand reputation requires a hands on approach. When speaking or presenting, you need to create an inclusive, tailored experience, and not just lecture people. When done right, speaking will become a lucrative marketing strategy, and a powerful tool in developing positive brand reputation.
