“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” This is surely the most important aspect of the 2013 TED Talk by US-based ‘leadership expert’, Simon Sinek.
It should be at the heart of your presence on social media, regardless of industry, offering or expertise, as much as it is a part of your offline business proposition.
Social media is a fantastic tool for finding new customers and continuing to develop relationships with existing ones, but to truly connect with others, we need to share our ‘why’.
Your business why may be rooted in a personal why, it may come from years of experience in an industry. Whatever the root of your why, sharing it with your followers reinforces a sense of trust and community. Tell your followers/community what gets us out of bed in the morning, why you are so passionate about what we do and what you believe in.
Never before have consumers been more interested in the stories behind the brands they engage with and allow into their lives, and even more so the people behind the brand. It isn’t enough anymore to be a faceless brand who pushes content, long gone are the days of relying on print or tv media, instead you have the power right in the palm of your hand to include customers in your brand.
Thanks to smartphones and social media, we have all the tools we need to capitalise on this interest, engage with our customers and followers in a very real way, and tell them our ‘why’ through a series of posts and stories.
The beauty of social media is that it can be harnessed as a mega phone, pulling closer the millions of potential customers, it allows us to create a tribe, a community online who align with our brand.
Your business why is more than what you sell or the service you provide, instead it is the heart of your business, the thing that makes it tick. In most instances the best place to start is the reason you started your brand. You need to share your why, not just your what and how.
Not sure what your why is? Now is the time to clarify it, as it will help you to shape how you engage with people, how and where you sell your services or products and in turn allows you to find and engage with the best customers possible.
How To Find Your Why - Task One
Write anything from a sentence to a paragraph about why you started your business, what you hope to achieve and how you can impact your customers with your products or services.
If you are struggling, here are some opening lines to get your started;
I used my expertise in… to create…
I couldn’t find a product/service that worked for me, so I started…
I’m passionate about...and that inspired my to begin…
Try writing as a stream of consciousness, rather than staring at a blank page, just start writing and see what flows. Then give it a little time, go back to it and re-read to see if you think that it captures your why.
How To Find Your Why - Task Two
Who are your competitors? What do you think their why is? This might seem like a lot of work but knowing who your competitors are and what makes them tick will help you ensure that you have ownership of your space within the industry and a clear unique selling point.
How To Find Your Why - Task Three
Ask others, be it people who work in the business, or people close to you and the business. Ask them what they think your why is. Sometimes it takes the views of others, slightly out of business but close enough to understand passion you have for the brand.
Ask them to do the same as you did in Task One, write anything from a sentence to a paragraph sharing why they think you started your business, what they believe you hope to achieve and the ways that can see you and your business can impact customers with your products or services.
How To Find Your Why - What’s Next
Once you have your WHY, write it down, put it somewhere clear where you work and refer to it when it comes to every aspect of your business; be it new products/services, business growth or content both on or offline.
Next up I will share 9 examples of fantastic WHY post templates that you can use to help share the why of your brand.