This week, we have had the opportunity to work on web projects for Healthcare, Auto Detailing, Appliance Service, Kids Camps, Venture Capital, Carpet Restoration and a host of others. And even in the midst of this diversity of industries, we continue to see the one unifying factor that drives the “why” for the content in each of these projects.
That factor? Their Distinctive.
In every conversation we have with a new client, our back-and-forth quickly jumps to how that particular individual views their business when it comes to setting it apart from the competition. In many cases, the first answers we receive on their “distinctives” have to do with quality customer service, a long tenure of experience, ties to the community, certifications, etc. These of course are all vital to communicate to the viewing and reading audience. Why do we know these are vital? Because EVERY website that is driving ANY kind of business to its owner has every one of those things clearly spelled. Which means that, with everyone’s distinctives being the same, no one in fact is demonstrating any distinctives whatsoever.
That’s kind of a bummer.
So how do you ACTUALLY become distinctive?
I would imagine there are thousands of answers to this question. But for our answer to be of value to you, we must ourselves show what our distinctives are so you the client clearly understand how we can help you extrapolate and promote yours. Whether it’s a chicken/egg conversation, a rabbit-hole metaphor or an exercise in determining what caused the big bang, it has to be answered so you can 1) understand what actually drives you to do what you do and 2) better understand how that drive allows you to provide something that no one else does inside your industry.
Recently, we did some modifications to our own website. We did what anyone would do, we explored the sites of competitors. In our case, we looked at the sites THEY had designed as well. We also looked at design trends in general. We saw what our industry was doing. And we found out exactly what we stated above….very few stood out and everyone’s distinctives were the same.
So who actually stood out?
We discovered a very interesting feature of the design firms that actually stood out. It was the focus on the personality and daily life outside of work of the key team members inside the firms. Instead of trying to show just how HUGE they were as a company (even if they were in fact HUGE), they worked to provide a platform by which they were VERY accessible and, in a sense, almost vulnerable to their audience. They let people get to know them as a person.
Too simple, right?
In a day and age of automation, out-sourcing, “streamlining”, and epic phone trees, a company with a product that a bunch of other people are selling stood out when it allowed “the company” to be the back drop of “the people” that made up that company. That’s right ladies and gents, business great and small is STILL about relationship. And EVERY relationship is always completely unique and…you guessed it…distinctive.
Swipe Right
So what is YOUR distinctive? How’s is YOUR online presence developing relationships with your current and potential clients? What are you doing to make sure it does? Might we suggest you reach out to us? We’d love a first date.
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