Putting More “Heart” in Your Marketing 

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You know what makes your goods, services, or products great. It’s clear why people would want them. 

Our job is to make sure that people know that while showcasing what’s best about them. Really, we’re spotlighting what you do. 

We’ve found that business owners usually have a pretty good idea of what makes their business stand out from the rest. 

Where they tend to need some help is when it comes to showing the “heart” of their business. There’s more to “why someone would want to do business with you” than just “we have excellent products and service.” 

These days that’s more important than ever. That said, how do you show that “heart?” Where do you draw it from? 

The Heart of Your Company 

 

If you go to dictionary.com you’ll find 19 different definitions for “heart.” The first few are what you expect, the physical, actual anatomical definition of the body part. After that, however, you get “heart” the way we’re using it. “The center of emotion,” “capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection,” “spirit, courage, or enthusiasm,” “the innermost or central part of anything,” and “the vital or essential part; core.” 

That’s a lot of different words, many of which mean different things. 

For the purposes of our marketing, it’s usually: “to give customers a positive emotional response.” 

If you can do that, you’ll have shown plenty of heart. 

Moreover, you’ll have shown heart in such a way that will help people to make a connection to your business. That connection can bring them in as a customer. Moreover, it can keep them there, too. 

 

Some Great, Recent Examples of Heart 

 

Depending on where you’re reading this, there might be a “Big Lots” near you. (There’s actually one about a six-minute walk from my apartment.) They’re exactly the kind of location that had a great deal to lose during the pandemic: yes, they’re an essential business that sells plenty of food among other goods. 

 

However, it’s entirely possible that folks would just get their food from a supermarket and the rest of their goods from online shopping, thus bypassing Big Lots. So, as revealed in a recent Forbes article, they sprung into action. 

 

They let people know they were open. Sneeze guards, health screenings for workers, cleaning protocols – they put all of those in fast. On top of that, they let people know about it, too. 

 

After the initial wave of shutdowns amidst the pandemic, they adjusted their marketing. Here’s the part that’s relevant to our discussion of heart: “(Big Lots’ marketing) began to recognize (their) Big Lots heroes, the associates who kept our stores open, by featuring them in our social channels highlighting heartfelt stories of extreme examples of customer care.” 

 

That’s heart. 

 

That meets more than a couple of those 19 definitions mentioned above. 

 

After seeing a few of those, do you think people felt connected to Big Lots? Do you think they wanted to do business with that company? 

 

Of course! 

They saw people working hard for them during a very difficult time. 

There’s plenty of this that you can take for your business, too. 

Your Company’s Heart 

 

Maybe your business isn’t one that lends itself to showcasing how your associates do “extreme examples of customer care” or something like that. 

But, it’s more than likely you or someone else at your business has done something, in some way, that shows some kind of sacrifice for customers. 

Even if it’s not showing sacrifice, it can be a great boon to your business (as well as your employees) to showcase them (if they’re willing). 

Whether they’re performing extreme acts of customer care, showing various ways that your business can help, or just highlighting ones that have done a really good job, it can be a great benefit. 

Your employees are, in a very real way, the heart of your business, too. 

You certainly can and should let folks know about all of the safety protocols that you’ve engaged with. 

 

These are all just some ideas. There are plenty of others. 

To go back to the Big Lots article, they adjusted as the pandemic went on. Your business will, too. We can help every step of the way. For more: (888) 477-9540.