Is Your Business Likeable?

Your business may tout a great product or service, but is your brand actually likeable?

Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media, thinks this is one of the most important questions companies need to ask themselves today. With 85 percent of Internet users on Facebook and 49 percent on Twitter, social media is something businesses of any size can’t ignore when it comes to their marketing efforts.

But it’s not enough just to have a presence on these sites — you have to create a likable brand. Kerpen’s new book, Likeable Business: Why Today’s Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver, offers 11 principles businesses can use to ensure they’re engaging their audience, fostering positive relationships, and ultimately, boosting profits.

Based on these principles, here are six questions business owners can ask themselves to assess whether or not they’ve built a likeable business:

Are you listening to your customers? Listening is one of the most important foundations of a business, Kerpen says. “You need consumer feedback and lessons learned from mistakes,” he explains. “Products don’t live in a vacuum — they interact with consumer behavior and the marketplace.” Kerpen recommends business use social listening tools like HootSuite, SocialMention, and Tweet Archivist to keep an eye on customer concerns.

Do you ask yourself the right questions to develop your story? A good story needs an introduction, some conflict, and a conclusion. “Interesting characters help to make a good story, too,” Kerpen says. “Companies can ask themselves: Who are our interesting characters? What are our conflicts? What have I, my staff, or my customers overcome to achieve success?”

Do you take advantage of online opportunities? The Internet is a particularly cheap and accessible marketing tool for small businesses. Kerpen suggests taking great stories and using multimedia to bring them alive. “Use pictures, videos and infographics to make easily digestible and easily shareable stories,” he says. “Then, seed those stories with a very small advertising budget. Of course, the larger the company, the more resources you’ll have to ensure your story is heard, but the Internet and social media have made it easier than ever to compete as a smaller company.”

Are you too afraid to be transparent? Many startups are deathly afraid of putting out too much information about themselves for fear of giving their competitors an edge. Get over your fears, Kerpen says. “Short of posting computer code, there is nothing startups should worry about sharing that would give competitors an edge. Lead by example, become thought leaders, and let your competitors play catch up with you once you’ve won lots of business.”

Do you know when to apologize? This is the first step a company should take when they make a mistake. I told Kerpen about how I recently ordered a “brand new” (their words) piece of luggage from a third-party vendor on Amazon that came with a “sold at auction” sticker and was missing the shoulder strap. I returned the item and gave the vendor a negative review — not knowing at the time I could have reached out to the vendor directly, since I had never had a negative experience with a third-party vendor on Amazon before.

For almost a full month following my review, the vendor repeatedly harassed me about taking it down, calling my feedback “nasty” and “unnecessary”, and only stopped the harassment because I lodged an official complaint with Amazon — not the correct steps to take, says Kerpen.

“Two of the most important words in the consumer-business relationship are ‘I’m sorry’,” he says. “We have an unbelievable capacity for forgiveness, but we need to hear admission of guilt and a sincere apology before we’re able to get to that point.”

Do you focus on what you do best? Don’t try to focus on too many things at once — especially if you’re a small or startup company. “Your clients and customers love you for what you do best and none of the superfluous things you do,” Kerpen explains. “When you focus on too much, your energy and expertise are diluted, giving little effort to any given area. When you have too many goals, you’re far less likely to succeed with any given one.”

These are just a few questions businesses should ask themselves when determining whether or not they’ve built a likeable brand. For more principles companies can follow, check out Kerpen’s book, available on Amazon.