5 Significant Ways to Make Your Customers’ Voices Heard in Your Advertising

The most important thing in a friendship is to know and be known. You need to listen to your people to get to know and understand them. Even though it seems so clear, a lot of marketing misses this point of view. Brand stories focus too much on the brand itself and not enough on why the brand exists, even though companies say they are “customer-obsessed.”

When deciding to buy, B2B buyers need even more understanding, knowledge, and reassurance. To build a long-lasting connection that benefits both parties, here are some important ways to make sure that the customer’s voice is heard and understood.

1. Figure out who the hero is.

Donald Miller, who created the StoryBrand framework, says that customers don’t care about your story; they want to know how your product or service will help them live or thrive in their story.

Customers are the heroes, and your brand is the map that helps them find their way and solve their problem. In your marketing, you should make the customer the star by showing them how your brand will help them. The story and successes of your business should stay on the boilerplate and the “About Us” page of your website.

2. Make profiles of your ideal customers.

When you first start out in public relations, one of the most important things you learn is how to talk to people. For instance, don’t send your pitch to a writer who doesn’t even write about your field. It’s important to do study on the people you want to talk to, the messages that will resonate with them, and the best ways to get those messages across.

Along with demographics, you should also look at psychographics, which include things like values, hobbies, priorities, and possible objections. Buyer identities are made up versions of real customers, but they have to be based on real people. That means talking to current and potential clients and adding what they say to your accounts.

3. Help them build your business.

Making a lasting effect on customers is what branding is all about. Your brand’s products and services should stand out from others on the market. Again, building or updating your brand isn’t about you. It has to do with your clients. What promise of value do you have for them, and why does that matter to them?

I work with a lot of very specialized tech companies and groups that get stuck in the language or way of talking about their goods and services that is common in their field. But B2B buyers are still people, right? Make sure that the words you or your agency partners come up with are clear and interesting, and don’t be afraid to use humor or other emotional appeals. Talk to some of your customers about your ideas first, especially if they need to be translated so that they can be used all over the world.

4. Use quotes whenever you can.

I was in charge of writing up case studies at my first job at a software company as the customer relations manager. In this job, you would come up with success stories and movies that helped close new business. You would also get quotes for press releases and publications and find speakers for our yearly user conferences. I talked to a lot of people who used our software and built ties with them that helped a lot with our PR.

Nothing is more powerful than the stories of your customers, whether they’re reviews or comments on social media. Don’t forget to ask them if they’d be willing to write a blog post for you. There are groups that won’t go on record. Record the stories of how problems were solved and results were reached, even if this is hard. Even if you don’t say where the information came from, it can still affect how you sell and what people buy.

5. Find out what people think and act on it.

At the software job I talked about, I was also in charge of the yearly customer happiness survey. To keep it up to date, I worked with a third-party company to do interviews and give the results.

Since that was a while ago, there are now many tools that can be used to digitize informal or pulse surveys as well as official NPS and CSAT programs. It’s also possible to connect to customer relationship management (CRM) and success systems. This lets businesses see how their goods and services are really helping customers on a bigger scale.

This feedback, both good and bad, needs to get to the right areas so they can act on it. Thank the people who made sure the implementation happened on time and on budget, and let product management know if the same questions or problems keep coming up about a certain feature.

If your company has a product forum, you should keep an eye on it for trends and great ideas, then share them with the rest of the business. You could also get good ideas for business blogs, webinars, or other things.

Make sure that the voice of your buyers comes through in your marketing.

“Why should I do it?” This is the main question that new and current customers want to know when they see or hear your marketing, whether it’s on your website, in a webinar, or in a chat. People will probably not listen to you if you don’t make it clear how you can solve their problems and improve their lives.

Listen to your people and be open enough to hear what they have to say to avoid wasting time and money. Then use that knowledge to get ideas for yourself, your creative team, your sales team, and the people who make your products. Messages that focus on the customer and offer value will get your marketing where it needs to go.