“Marketing with the company’s history? It’s only for large companies or companies that have been in the market for a long time! ”I often hear comments like this when I talk about what I do for a living.
The other person then obviously thinks of marketing departments with several employees, five- or six-digit advertising budgets and extensive campaigns in various media, among other things. All of this is certainly helpful, but not absolutely necessary. My experience shows that even small and very small companies with few resources can use their history successfully for their marketing, even if they were not founded that long ago. You can read how to do this in this post.
What is the “company history”?
Every company looks back on different events such as its foundation, the sale of the first product, the development of a very special offer, the hiring of the first employee, winning a prize, etc. All of these events together make up its historical development, so the company’s history.
There are many such events at companies that have been in the market for a long time, such as at the Viennese confectionery factory Manner and its most famous product, the Manner Schmitt, at younger and smaller companies the number of events is correspondingly lower. This is shown, for example, by the history of the German muesli supplier my muesli, founded in 2007 by three students. Although the history of the company includes only a few events so far, they are interesting for the target group. So his story is an important part of marketing for my muesli.
What is marketing with company history?
Marketing with a company history, also called “history marketing” or “history marketing”, means doing marketing with the help of one’s own past. It’s about bringing up your own story again and again – be it on the blog, on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Marketing encompasses several areas, the following for me is about communication.
What does marketing bring with company history?
Every company has a story, no matter how old or big it is or what industry it works in. Using your own story for marketing makes sense for several reasons:
The company history
- Is unique to every company, nobody can copy it.
- Makes a company more credible because it shows that it is successful in the market.
- Conveys emotions that make a company appear more approachable and personable.
- Shows the identity of a company: what makes it special and how it came about.
- Costs nothing and belongs to the company.
Storytelling as an important tool
People remember stories much better than numbers, dates and facts. Of course, this also applies to the history of your company. With a mere sequence of years and key words, there is a high risk that customers will not notice anything. If, on the other hand, you tell individual events as a story, they are more likely to be remembered and help make your company appear likeable. This could influence customers when they make their next purchase decision.
My tip if you want to know more about storytelling:
How storytelling actually works, i.e. what makes a good story, is what I have discussed in this blog post. I also recommend the book “Storytelling for Companies” by Miriam Rupp – it is now one of the German-language standard works on this topic.
Use your story!
Tell your customers about your company’s history and stand out from your competitors!
Think about what your customers might be interested in. What have they ever asked you about your company? What did they really want to know? With these stories you can start.
Tell us about yourself!
I keep coming across websites of companies that seem to be run by magic: no names or photos of contact persons or neutral e-mail addresses that begin with office @, info @ or similar. This not only looks unprofessional, but also impersonal.
Especially in small companies, where direct contact plays a major role, it is particularly important to show the people behind them and their story (s).
How else can customers decide who to entrust their information or projects to?
Your customers might be interested in these questions:
- How did you come up with your business idea? What delayed the start-up or made it difficult for you? Who or what helped you to found the company?
- After which experience / which (unsuccessful) project did you steer your company in a new direction? What has changed as a result?
- What made the difference that you did something innovative, e.g. E.g. a patent or a trademark applied for, a product developed or a process set up? How did your customers react?
The channel:
The image flyer for your company is a great way to tell more about your business idea. And your website should also have a meaningful “About me / about us” page. Perhaps there is also space for your stories in the blog, as with Hubert Weigh.
My advice:
Be sure to tell vivid stories that have a place for emotions. A factual list of events from your company’s history is hardly relevant. But if you tell how you felt in certain situations or what you thought, then you get your target group’s brains going!
Celebrate anniversaries regularly!
There are always special events in the company that you can celebrate: the day on which you had it entered in the trade register, moved into a new office, opened a branch, sold a product for the first time … Think in all possible directions, e.g. For example, on anniversaries that are of interest to your industry: As a bicycle dealer, you could celebrate the invention of the bicycle or the dynamo. Be creative here!
The channel:
Write about it on your company blog and post from nonfiction ghostwriting services on your social media channels, such as on Facebook. The (local) press could also be interested in your topic if you can link it to a bigger one – say “200 years of bicycles”.
My advice:
Keep a rolling Excel list with the date of events that are important to your company or industry. So you can see regularly at a glance and sorted by date when the next anniversary is coming up.
Take a look back on Thursdays!
You can tell the story (s) of your company on the so-called “Throwback Thursday”, i.e. on Thursday in retrospect (it takes place every Thursday). On social media, #tbt is the official hashtag for looking back at your own past.
Anything older than five years is particularly interesting. So you can go a little further and tell stories from the distant past of your company or your industry. The content can be surprising, funny or even dramatic. The photos that you use in this context can convey your message with a wink.
The channel:
The number of clicks on such posts on Instagram or Facebook shows that it is worth posting with this hashtag.
My advice:
If you should forget to post on Thursday, just pick up the post on Friday with #fob for “Flashback Friday”.
Conclusion
Be proud of your story, no matter how old your company is and how much you have to tell! Because the history of your company is a valuable resource for your marketing. Don’t let them go unused, but use them to sharpen the profile of your company. It makes it more tangible and more personable for your customers and you clearly stand out from your competitors with it.