How much do you know your customers? And how much of their needs do you fulfil?

For any business, understanding customers’ wants and needs in the face of constantly emerging trends should be priority number one if they wish to stay in the game for the long haul.

With any startup or scaleup, knowing exactly where to allocate limited time, energy, and resources can be what makes or breaks their bottom line and, therefore, should be backed by relevant customer data in order to refine messaging and increase conversions.

It is just not enough to have a great product anymore. Customers need to want it or, more ideally, believe it is pertinent to their daily lives. This delicate dance between businesses and customers can be a bit tricky, but not impossible — which is why it pays to do it right.

In this fourth instalment to our “Staying Relevant” series, we discuss the three ways you can keep your brand relevant to your markets — and beyond — amid highly volatile, fast-changing times:

1) Stay Current with Your Customers

For starters, it is a good idea to regularly review your unique selling point (USP) and ensure they move with the trends as they ebb and flow. What makes your business better than the competition? And can your products or services be tailored to better suit your market’s needs?

To do this, check in with your customers. Do not be afraid to ask them questions on all your platforms. Collect incoming engagement metrics and conversion statistics across marketing campaigns, channels, and devices to identify what types of messaging customers are interested in, what formats they are responding to, or which campaigns aren’t living up to expectations — and then put them to work.

By strategically sifting through and leveraging these data, your business will be better positioned to get clarity on important factors, such as demographics, location, and buying habits. When you focus on all these meaningful insights, you can begin to see the overarching patterns that help you reach out to and stay on top of your customers wants and needs.

Additionally, keep tabs on your industry and competitors, too. To truly develop and safeguard your USP, you need to become privy to what is happening within your industry as well as what your competitors are up to so you can always be one step ahead.

2) Cultivate Both Unified and Individual Brand Experiences

What do your customers think when they hear about or see your brand? Streamlining messaging, imagery, and overall brand ethos across all points of contact is key to cementing your name in any industry. In this aspect, it is critical to maintain consistent branding to not confuse your customers on what your company stands for.

In the same vein, you also need to think about how you can maximise engagement on an individual level. As marketing strategies have encroached upon more advanced territory, so have consumer expectations. More than ever, customers can spot insincerity from a mile away.

Staunch followers and brand evangelists are crucial in helping brands reach a wider pool of potential customers and deliver business results. This is why creating personalised brand experiences is a necessity. By customising your brand experiences to every customer, you are fostering better relationships with your market — making them feel like the valued, trusted individuals that they are.

3) Take Smart Risks

By now, every business knows about the dangers of legacy thinking in the modern business landscape. Luckily, startups and scaleups are not tethered to these outdated ways of operating.

However, even the most innovative and agile business can fall into a similar trap once they reach steady growth and success. The more a business delivers on its bottom line, the more the stakes rise and the chances of businesses becoming risk-averse increase lest they lose more than what they have bargained for.

This is where point #3 intersects with point #1 — when you are equipped with reliable and relevant data on your consumers’ behaviours, the more you can make smarter, more courageous risks and stay front-of-mind on both the short- and long-terms.

When all is said and done, staying relevant all boils down to consumer trust. Once you earn it, you gain a loyal following who will be more than happy to champion your brand with others. So, reach out to your customers, create consistent and individualised brand experiences, and take smart risks regularly and — in turn — better engage your markets and deliver on bottom lines.

In the fifth instalment to our “Staying Relevant” series, we will discuss everything you need to know about startup and scaleup accelerators and how they can help your business soar to even greater heights.

We at BeingIconic have successfully worked with different brands across numerous industries in creating highly effective strategies on how to better showcase their unique selling points and consistently engage customers, regardless of how volatile the markets may be. Partner with us today to find out how we can do the same for you