People like to attribute human characteristics to things and companies are no different. When we think of a business or a brand, we think of all the emotions and experiences we’ve had related to it. We usually tie up all these feelings into a sort of personality for that business. Apple is thought of as hip and probably a bit snooty. Facebook is that friend that you liked to party with in college. Nike is way into sports, but likes to look good doing it. You get the picture. What personality does your business have?
If you’re a small company, the personality of the company is probably pretty close to your own personality – or at least the business personality that you put off. Before the Internet and Social Media, company personalities were largely built from advertising and marketing. Now, there’s an opportunity to connect directly with customers you’ve never met in person to influence their feelings about your company.
Why care about a corporate personality? Well, people do business with other people, not with companies. Even with automated systems such as phone service or ecommerce websites, a customer is probably doing business with you due to some type of human interaction along the way. People want to know more about the people at a company, and using social media to show a bit of personality can help.
Connecting with people can help with negative press and publicity too. People are less likely to badmouth a company if they know someone that works there – or if they feel like someone is listening to their grievances.
So, what’s your business’ personality?
(photo by HarpersBizarre @ FlickrCC)
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