2020 is here. And keeping your brand relatable is more difficult than it’s ever been.

Being a quirky brand that posts sassy responses and funny GIFs isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all approach that works for everyone.

Things have changed. We’ve gotten to a point where brands (both large and small) across the globe have imitated these trends. Every brand wants to be the funniest guy in the room in order to catch the interest of Gen Z and Millennials. But here’s the thing, not every brand needs to be the funniest guy in the room. Your brand can be relatable in its own way.

Here’s how to keep your brand relatable in the upcoming year (and beyond).

Understand your customers. Like I said, sassy responses, GIFs, memes… All good stuff when used at the right time. But they’re not the answer to all of your problems. Building a relatable brand means engaging your customers in a way that appeals to them on a deeper level. Relatability isn’t just humor. It’s understanding. It’s knowing who your customers are and what they expect.

You’ll want to consider their age, income level, career, etc. Every bit of demographic data you’ve got. If you miss the mark by even just a little bit, you run the risk of doing more than not appearing relatable. You risk appearing out of touch.

Here’s a few examples of how understanding your customers can translate into a more relatable brand experience.

  • Support causes that align with your customer base. Supporting causes is a great way to make your brand appear more relatable. Really, it’s a great idea to support any cause at all. But for the maximum effect, you’ll want to support causes that your customers care the most about (e.g. a pet store that donates to the local animal shelter).
  • Produce content that your audience will consider useful. It’s like receiving a great gift from a friend. You feel like the brand gets you. They know what you want.
  • And yes, posting memes, GIFs, and more that are relevant to your audience. Humor is always relatable when used effectively on the right audience. A meme that’s funny to a 14-year-old might not land exactly the same to their parents. Always consider the interests of your demographic.

You can bank on nostalgia. GlobalWebIndex reports that a large amount of Internet users are feeling nostalgic about a lot of different things. In the past year, 62% have felt nostalgic about a song, 51% about a photo, 39% about a TV show, and 36% about a movie. All signs point to this trend continuing as we head into 2020. Whether nostalgia-based marketing will remain as popular as it is may be difficult to say. But for the time being, don’t hesitate to give it a whirl.

Personalization is a big deal for maintaining relatability. In a sense, it’s sort of the ultimate form of customer understanding. Personalization delivers a brand experience that, at the very least, feels unique to the individual.

Here’s an example of great personalization (that also happens to leverage nostalgia). Take a look at the recent success of Spotify’s 2019 Wrapped year-in-review, which leverages their database to allow users to take a look at their most listened-to songs and artists for the past year and decade. The Verge highlights how not only does this dominate the online conversation, it’s a powerful selling point when placed into comparison with competing services.

Stay Relatable With CoGoBuzz

Need help keeping your brand relatable in 2020? Get started with CoGoBuzz, our state-of-the-art digital marketing service.

With our service, you’ll gain access to industry-leading WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions. It all starts when customers login to your in-store HotSpot via Facebook, Email Address or Phone Number. From there, our service develops a full profile, setting you up with access to crucial customer data. Find out who’s coming to your business, and how often. We’ll then automatically store their profile information and automatically send them to your favorite Marketing List, such as HubSpot, MailChimp, and Constant Contact. You’ll have no trouble understanding your customers!

With CoGoBuzz, we’ll set you up with automatic Facebook followers, a digital text-based loyalty program, and more.

Click here to learn more about CoGoBuzz!

What tactics does your brand take to stay relatable? Let us know in the comments!