Be Innovation

This post takes something personal, and expands it to an idea that every business can follow.  I noticed earlier today that a comment on my last blog post by Jake Samuelson, author of the blog My Geeky Side, was the 200th comment that I have received.  Though that is not a stat that I actively track, it is nice to see that the conversation aspect of my blog is picking up as more readers continue to come to the site.  It was a stat that I wanted to share with you because it is exciting to see a growing readership contribute more ideas.

With regards to that, I strongly believe that sharing company milestones with customers and the general public is a great way to build your brand, market yourself, and generate a dialogue with the press and the people.

When a company announces that they just reached 1 million customers, or just sold their 500th widget, etc. it tells people something.  It gets them involved in the company, letting those people that are already customers know that their business is valued.  It lets potential customers know of your success.  “If 10,000 other people are using their service, it must be worth while.”

Sharing information publicly, either on the website, a corporate blog, with a press release, or company newsletter, gives you strong outreach.  It is marketing, without coming off as marketing.  It makes people aware of your brand and aware of your success.  It is the best way to grow based on past success.

Celebrate these milestones, not only with an announcement, but by giving something back as well.  Tell people that when you hit 1,000 units sold, you will have a special free or discounted offer.  “So many people like this that we have decided to give it away for free on this day.”  Promotions like that, based on current and projected success, spread the word.  It adds to the story that your company is telling, and defines what you are all about.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.