How can you appeal to consumers' sense of identity?

Get real with your audience. Understand their struggles, interests and stories. Learn what they truly care about. Marketing isn't just about stats; it's about connecting with your audiences' everyday lives. Show them you understand and care for them, your product and business are to solve a problem in their busy lives.

To connect with consumers' sense of identity, get what makes them tick and link it to what you're selling. Show them in your ads or stories that you totally get their values, hobbies, and way of life. Make it feel like you're chatting about their life or dreams, so they really vibe with it. Throw in some options to customize what you're offering, letting them make it their own. It's all about making your product feel like a part of who they are, which builds a cool emotional connection and keeps them coming back.

There are three things you need to know about your target audience. 1) What are their motivators to acquire/adopt your product or service? 2) What are fears or obstacles to acquiring your product or service? 3) Does the configuration of your product or service meet at least 70% of the consumer's needs? There are contemporary methodologies, consultants and professionals that can help you know these three pieces of information. This information about the consumer will allow you to build a powerful message that resonates with the consumer's needs, you will be able to adapt your product or service to the consumer's needs and calculate the potential market.

Although brand positioning is the result of the communication pillars that you expand, the experience (positive or negative) of consumption, purchase and customer service as well as the reactions that your consumers have in mass digital media. You can guide the positioning towards commercial objectives or consumer needs. For this it will be necessary to adjust your communication, the frequency, the characteristics of your product and the internal purchasing and service processes. All this is based on consumption needs as well as business objectives over time. I recommend the reading of (Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value. By Kimberly A. Whitler) Speaking about Stregic Basis to better communicate.

Many customers are not aware themselves of the source of their own sense of identity. Some pivot it basis elements external to them like their job, their role in house, their role in the community, their assets etc. While there a few who pivot it internally, through their spirituality or self awareness. While segmenting your customers, it is important to use projective techniques to identify these sources of 'sense of identity'.

To emotionally connect with consumers, personalize your marketing to reflect their interests and behaviors. Align your brand with their values and lifestyle, making them feel understood and valued. Appeal to their aspirational identity, showing how your product or service can help them become who they want to be. Use social proof, like testimonials, to reinforce their identity as a user of your brand. Offer exclusivity to make them feel special and unique. These strategies foster a genuine connection, making your brand more relatable and memorable.

Subcultures play a vital role in fostering a sense of community and hence a unified identity. It is important to identify, isolate, target and nurture such sub cultures in order to create an affinity and a long term bond with the target group.

To connect with consumers' identities, emphasize how your products or services fit into their personal growth and life journey. Craft narratives showing your brand as a catalyst in their journey of self-exploration and achievement. This strategy elevates your offerings beyond mere commodities, integrating them into the consumers' personal tales of discovery, wellness, or creativity. Such a marketing approach positions your brand as a companion in their life story, not just a provider, forging deeper emotional bonds by aligning with their ambitions and expressive pursuits. This method transforms your products into chapters of their life story, making your brand an intrinsic part of their evolving identity and creating enduring brand loyalty.

What should not you forget to increase the value of your brand or to improve the Brand-Trust? I have seen brands that need much more trust from their consumers. I have seen other brands that their own product is the brand per se and I have seen brands without value. My conclusion in these scenarios is always to identify how close the product characteristics are to the consumer's needs as well as to also identify the key messages that will powerfully impact the consumer. The value of the brand should bring more customers and the value of the product should contribute with 33% to de Brand Value.