Want to build your brand, inject your business with some good ol’ personality

Doug Greathouse (aka Captian Arcimedia)
Written by
Doug Greathouse
on August 15, 2009


Categories: Featured, Offline Marketing, Social Media Marketing

  • Share
  • Share

hotforwords
Let’s face it folks, We all want to be entertained. You cannot sell anything by boring people with your “fancy” industry lingo. Do you remember your favorite classes in school? I bet they had teachers that were engaging. You loved going to class because not only did you learn from that teacher but it was at least a little fun. The same principal applies to marketing your business. You want to make it very hard for your clients and prospects to forget you. I am not saying you need to be an “entertainer” but you do have to be engaging. If they are talking about you they are also indirectly talking about your business.

Think of all the companies and brands that have used characters or strong personalities to extend our launch their brands. The recent passing of Billy Mays really brought this idea back to the forefront of my mind. The reason he was such a great “pitchman” is because he was engaging, entertaining, and likable. Another great example is Gary Vaynerchuk, his personality enabled him to connect with a whole new audience of wine lovers.

People love to learn about wine and spend money with Gary because they like him. Part of his great personality is that he is transparent and shares who he is and doesn’t “hide” behind his brand but in a sense is his brand. He has taken his company viral by injecting it with personality. People are spreading his videos all across the internet. In short Gary V has just nailed it. Put bluntly, do not expect your marketing to spread if most of it looks or sounds like a technical journal. Industry jargon has zero chance of going viral.

Granted not every small business owner is outgoing enough to put this magic to work, my recommendation to them is to find that dynamic person and add them to your team. In today’s social media crazed world it is vital to the growth and possibly the survival of almost any type of business. I know there are a lot of businesses that have products and services that by their very nature are just plain boring (aluminum siding comes to mind) but if you are able to put some dynamic human personality behind what would normally be a ho-hum product or service, you may be amazed at the results that you get. Billy Mays did a great job of this with Oxy-Clean. I do not know about you, but Oxy-Clean by itself does not get me very excited. I leave you with a couple of things, I urge you as a business owner or entrepreneur to brainstorm on ways to inject more personality in your product or service. I also have listed below some links and videos of  examples of great “personality” marketing for inspiration.

You must watch at least one video on Wine Library TV

Marina Orlova / Hot for Words

The Late Great Billy Mays

My Friend Patrick Riddle/ Real Estate Investing Coach

  • http://www.mustknowinvesting.com/ Patrick Riddle

    Hey Doug,

    Great post man … and I'm not just saying that because you included one of my videos :)

    Being personal and entertaining go a long way. I just recently decided to lean in that direction more rather than being strictly focused on delivering solid content.

    People want to know what you're doing, want to laugh and have a good time, and want to learn a little something in the process.

    ~ Patrick Riddle

  • http://www.mustknowinvesting.com Patrick Riddle

    Hey Doug,

    Great post man … and I'm not just saying that because you included one of my videos :)

    Being personal and entertaining go a long way. I just recently decided to lean in that direction more rather than being strictly focused on delivering solid content.

    People want to know what you're doing, want to laugh and have a good time, and want to learn a little something in the process.

    ~ Patrick Riddle

  • http://updatesmallbusiness.com/ Lori

    Your article makes an important point …however the cheesecake exterior is bound to turn away a great many women business owners and decision makers who do not resort to that tactic. Yeah, sure maybe it works…but it would be nice to think beyond that.

  • http://updatesmallbusiness.com Lori

    Your article makes an important point …however the cheesecake exterior is bound to turn away a great many women business owners and decision makers who do not resort to that tactic. Yeah, sure maybe it works…but it would be nice to think beyond that.

  • http://www.superheromarketing.net Doug Greathouse

    Lori
    You make a very good counter point. I am not saying that the way Hot For Words presents herself is for everybody but I would guess that she was shooting for the males between 16-70 demographic and is based on her subscription levels, doing a very nice job at capturing that market. In today's world marketing is all about what works to drive sales for your business. You do not have to go the cheesecake method to be engaging to your audience. I think Gary Vaynerchuk is a good example of showing personality and engaging his audience without being overly "cheesy". The encompassing point of this post is to just make sure that your business is not coming across as "stale" to your target market. Also when starting a new business give some serious thought to your brand's "personality". I believe this to be a key factor that often get's overlooked when branding a business.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Doug_Greathouse Doug_Greathouse

    Lori
    You make a very good counter point. I am not saying that the way Hot For Words presents herself is for everybody but I would guess that she was shooting for the males between 16-70 demographic and is based on her subscription levels, doing a very nice job at capturing that market. In today's world marketing is all about what works to drive sales for your business. You do not have to go the cheesecake method to be engaging to your audience. I think Gary Vaynerchuk is a good example of showing personality and engaging his audience without being overly "cheesy". The encompassing point of this post is to just make sure that your business is not coming across as "stale" to your target market. Also when starting a new business give some serious thought to your brand's "personality". I believe this to be a key factor that often get's overlooked when branding a business.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557554615 facebook-557554615

    Good article and interesting comments. When it comes to brand and personality if your market is specific and you can easily target your persona then its easy. But if your want to attract and sell to a broader range of people you'll need to take it easy.

    Patrick's comment: People want to know what you're doing, want to laugh and have a good time, and want to learn a little something in the process. >> is right.

    If you are too full on about it many many people will switch off because its too much for them.
    Its all about the balance and getting it right to fit your market, or to create your market.

  • jerrykennedy

    Wow! Great post, Doug, and really timely. My partner Joel and I were just discussing this subject in response to a couple of people who took issue with the fact that, in our Burning Business Tip videos on YouTube, Joel is talking about business but not always dressed in what they consider “suitable buiness attire”. You hit the nail on the head. We could be stuffy and stale and make the point, or we can inject our own personalities into the message and make them fun for people to watch. It's edutainment, and people seem to be responding.

    Thanks again for the post!

    Jerry Kennedy
    Co-creator of The Business Heretics

  • http://j2bmarketing.com/ Marci Reynolds

    Interesting, relevant post. Corporate America can often squeeze the personality right out of brands through meetings about meetings, too much legal and finance advice etc. Vanilla is just plain boring- and the leaders who do inject personality- as you highlighted, can bring their brand so much farther.

    Marci Reynolds
    J2B Marketing

  • http://j2bmarketing.com/ Marci Reynolds

    Interesting, relevant post. Corporate America can often squeeze the personality right out of brands through meetings about meetings, too much legal and finance advice etc. Vanilla is just plain boring- and the leaders who do inject personality- as you highlighted, can bring their brand so much farther.

    Marci Reynolds
    J2B Marketing

blog comments powered by Disqus