Imagine walking into a store and they have rack after rack after rack of white clothes and white shoes. You turn around and you see more white pants, white tops and white hats. You very quickly notice that everything is white. As you can imagine, it would be tough trying to pick something out.
Out of the corner of your eye though, you notice something red. You’re drawn to it immediately. It stands out and is memorable, whereas all of the white items blend together.
Being vanilla online creates the same experience for your audience. You can end up blending in like all the white clothes in the store. Vanilla in the Urban Dictionary is described as “Unexciting, normal, conventional, boring”. This is the polar opposite of how you need to be if you want to stand out and be seen on online. There’s not a business out there who wants to be described as vanilla!
You need to stand out and cut through the noise online if you want to use it to the advantage of your business. It takes time to make marketing online work, so it’s crucial you find a way to make it work for YOU
Being vanilla and sitting on the fence will cost you clients to those who are willing to do something different. You don’t have to be like Lady Gaga and wear a meat suit to stand out,though! You can do it in a way that works for you and aligns with your business
Here are 5 things business owners can do today to stop being vanilla.
- Have an opinion and share it
This is crucial if you want to stand out. Businesses and individuals who sit on the fence run the risk of seeming like they don’t stand for anything. As the saying goes “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything”. Consumers and your clients are more loyal when they feel like they share something in common with you. Sharing your opinion will make it easier for this to happen.
- Be daring with the images that you use
The standard head shot blends in and incites a fast scroll. You’ve only got to look at the profile photos of business owners to know that there is an epidemic of boring headshots. They all look the same. This is fine if you want to blend in with everyone else in your industry. If you’re reading this though, you know that it’s time to stand out and be seen. It’s time to get rid of the standard and boring carbon-copy corporate headshot.
Instead, have a profile image that shows some of your personality so your image stands out from the rest.
- Create lots of different types of content
Variety is the spice of life, they say, and when it comes to your audience, it’s important that they have different ways of being able to consume your content. For example: articles, blogs, photos, memes, videos, and podcasts. Give people a variety of ways to consume you and your content.
This helps your audience to see different facets of you. It gives you different ways of being able to communicate online as well, which your audience will appreciate.
4. Create your own intellectual property
This will get you thinking outside of the box with how you articulate your processes and thoughts.
In a world where anyone can be an expert “Just add the internet” it’s understandably more important than ever to be seen as someone (and as a business) of substance and intelligence.
When you start sharing your own intellectual property in an articulate fashion, it helps your audience see the evidence that you are an expert, not as someone who decided to gift themselves with the title.
By creating your own intellectual property, it allows you the space to creatively share your points of view and why you have them.
5. Be willing to be playful and not take it all too seriously
Think about how you are with your friends. What do you do for fun and what makes you all laugh? Treat social media like a conversation with a friend and you’ll find that people gravitate towards you. People like to follow people (and businesses) that they like and who they think will like them.
When you use these five tips, you will stand out from the rest of the boring vanilla people on the internet and start to gain more traction. This in turn, is going to help you to drive more business.
Digital marketing strategy must-haves for regional small businesses
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