I love the TOMS brand. In fact, I love their entire “One for One” movement. But the truth is this: Even though I think the company is fantastic, I don’t love my TOMS shoes. They’re nice sometimes and I do wear them, but they’re by no means my favorites.

And let me tell you something: If you can love a brand while only liking its product, that brand is doing something right.

What TOMS is doing right is that they’re giving me (and everyone) something to believe in. Because as Hugh MacLeod has aptly stated, “The market for something to believe in is infinite.”

On their website, TOMS shares this story behind the shoe:

TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, inspired by a trip to Argentina where he saw extreme poverty and health conditions, as well as children walking without shoes. That’s when he recognized the traditional Argentine alpargata shoe as a simple, yet revolutionary solution. He quickly set out to reinvent the alpargata for the U.S. market with a simple goal: to show how together, we can create a better tomorrow by taking compassionate action today.

TOMS could just be a shoe company. And if they were, I probably wouldn’t own multiple pairs. I might not even own one pair.

Instead, they made their product about what they believe in. About what their audience believes in. Everything else – from the introduction of new styles and a sunglasses line, to their annual “One Day With Out Shoes” – supports those ideas.

When choosing how to market ourselves to potential customers, how often do we limit ourselves to our face-value features? And how much more could our brand resonate with our audience if we introduced a new dimension of values?

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There’s a pet boarding center in my town called The Farm at Natchez Trace. It’s pretty fancy… I’d probably love going there if I was a dog. There’s a lot of open space for them to run free and they even have different areas for different types of dogs. For example: They have large suites for families of dogs, private rooms for elderly dogs, and a special wing for special needs dogs.

Oh, and every suite includes room service, maid service, in-suite TVs, climate-controlled fresh air system, and comfy beds & blankets. Like I said, it’s fancy.

So anyway, my parents dropped their Yorkshire Terrier (Molly) off there this week while they went out of town and somewhere in the middle of their trip, my mom forwarded me an email. This email:

The people who run The Farm understand their customers. Pets are usually like children and leaving them alone in an unfamiliar environment can be very stressful. In the same way that parents like to call babysitters to make sure their kids are okay, pet owners like to know their pet is okay.

With the “check in” email, The Farm essentially says, “We know how you feel, and we want to reassure you that everything’s fine. And just to prove it, here are some pictures.”

As business owners in any industry, there’s a huge lesson here. Actually, there are a few huge lessons.

Know What’s Needed

(Emotionally, not physically.) Obviously for The Farm, the physical need is a building where a pet can stay. But pet owners need more in order to feel comfortable and confident leaving their pet with strangers. The owners of The Farm know that, because they’ve walked a mile in their customers’ shoes. The email provides emotional reassurance that everything is, in fact, just fine.

Similarly, we often have clients at Proof who physically need branding services to launch a new company, but what they emotionally need is some encouragement and a few reminders that, “It’s going to be okay and they’re going to do great.”

Check In

It’s no fun to invest in something and end up being met with radio silence from the other end. When your customers and clients are trusting you with something important to them, gentle reminders that you still exist are all but necessary. Even if you don’t feel like there’s anything to report. The point of checking in isn’t always the news… A lot of times it’s the thought that counts more.

Provide Unmatched Service

If you exercise the first two lessons, this third one comes pretty naturally. Providing unmatched service means paying attention to the details that other people neglect. I guarantee that whatever industry you’re in, there are holes that need filling. There are places for improvement that, if addressed, will make your customer feel more comfortable, more confident, and more likely to recommend you to someone else. Find those holes and fill them with your product or service.

…And then follow through. Because none of this matters if you don’t live up to the hype. 

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How often do you shake a hand?

Here’s my guess: Not as often as you used to. …Am I close?

The Internet makes it easy to get more comfortable with virtual relationships and less comfortable with the real stuff. More and more often we build marketing plans around Google rankings and tweet schedules and don’t leave room for a face-to-face conversation.

Now don’t get me wrong: Social media is important and needs to be done right. But sometimes (and I’m totally guilty of this) we’ll be around people we’d like to get to know, and instead of walking over and introducing ourselves, we make a note to find them on Twitter.

It’s easier, right? Isn’t that why we defer to social media to mediate the relationship? Having a conversation through 140 characters at a time certainly is easier than being vulnerable and approaching a stranger.

But here’s the kicker: Relationships are not easy. In fact, a lot of times relationships are hard. But that’s when you learn about the other person’s honesty, integrity, and reliability – and when they learn about yours.

When our marketing tactics bypass the handshake and get too focused on our online strategy, we might show people that we’re funny or knowledgeable, but we can’t demonstrate those deeper values that let people know they can trust us with their money, project, or ideas.

The best thing for your company will be when people say, “I know that guy – he’s a great guy,” rather than “I follow that guy on Twitter – he seems nice.”

The latter indicates a good strategy. The former indicates a great brand.

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Storytelling isn’t a new thing. Actually, it’s one of the oldest things there is. But the idea of harnessing story as a marketing and branding tool is relatively recent. Twenty years ago we were at the mercy of a single image on a billboard or the 30 seconds of a television commercial to reach the masses, now we have more dedicated and in-depth mediums with social networks, blogs, and websites.

Where a story was hard to communicate before, it’s easy to do now. And for the official record, this is important and necessary. If you’re still relying on gigantic images and quick pitches, let me assure you that people are learning to tune it out – if they haven’t already.

Stories captivate. When we hear a story, it’s human nature to become introspective. To relate. And then to share. We’ve been doing it for thousands of years.

But I’m going to advocate for taking it a step further. As often as we can, we need to do more than tell stories. We need to bring other people into them. We need to make our customers and supporters characters and give them a role.

This is why Kickstarter is excelling. In a recent Fast Company article, Robert Fabricant makes the following observation:

Consumers don’t just want to understand the story. Increasingly, they want to be part of it, which is something even Apple won’t let them do. … While people love their Apple products, they are looking for a stronger link to the products they use. They want to get closer to the source. Kickstarter offers anyone the opportunity to be the first to discover, invest, and share a new product concept within a circle of friends, which alone is worth some money down even if the product never actually makes it to you doorstep as promised.

You can have a great product. It can even be a brilliant product. But without a story that engages and involves the consumer, it will still leave them wanting more. This means something different for every brand. Those who utilize Kickstarter involve the consumer through financial support, but for your brand, that support might be attendance at an event, article submissions, or guest posts on your blog.

When people feel they’re a part of your story, they’ll be more likely to stay in the narrative over time.  That’s the beauty of reminding people they matter. 

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When I was in college, I had quite a few side jobs. A lot of times, they involved preschoolers, but when they didn’t involve preschoolers, they involved brands.

Over two years, I held three different Brand Ambassador positions with Glacéau, Chegg.com, and Procter & Gamble. Basically, my job with each one was to be a brand evangelist in the most enthusiastic way possible. I talked the brand up, delivered free stuff to people, shared discount codes, hosted events, managed Facebook pages, plastered the campus with stickers, and drank more than a reasonable amount of vitaminwater (it’s hard to avoid with cases of it in your garage).

They were all pretty great gigs, especially for a college student. I mean, I was getting paid to hand out free stuff and share a brand’s mission and vision with other students. It was even better because I personally loved the products I was telling others about. And honestly, it worked. It got samples into the hands of each brand’s target market and generated awareness, social media growth, and ultimately, sales.

There are a lot of lessons here related to word of mouth marketing and the value of “free,” but I think an even better one is in equipping your employees to be an extension of your brand.

After all, your employees are your strongest advocates and biggest asset.

They already believe in you enough to invest 40 hours of their week into what you’re doing… not to mention they have quite a bit riding on the success of the company, themselves. The more you excite them and inspire them, the more willing they’ll be to carry the brand out into their lives.

They’ll be able to excitedly share when asked the inevitable, “What do you do?” at a wedding reception.  And they’ll probably be more aware of opportunities to hand out a business card.

See, people like to avoid sounding lame (shocking, I know). So if your employees are discouraged, bored, or indifferent toward the work they’re doing, they won’t talk about it.

When it’s spelled out, it seems like common sense, but a lot of times it’s easy to be so preoccupied with the consumer we forget to motivate our employees and remind them why their work matters – both to themselves and to others.

Equip them with everything they need to represent the brand well. Don’t know how best to do it? Ask them.

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Your most powerful marketing plan will always be no marketing plan. It will be other people. Friends, family members, and satisfied customers and clients who believe in your company and have had a great experience will be bigger (and less expensive) billboards than any you see on the side of the road.

And that’s why when it comes to your brand, every interaction matters.

I experienced this simple truth this weekend at Main Street Festival, an annual street fair hosted in Franklin, Tenn. and full to the brim with artisans and crafters, entertainment, and terrible-yet-awesome street food. Anyway, while I was there, I came across DCXV Clothing. The booth was simple – there were some screen printed t-shirts hanging up and some postcards and bumper stickers, almost all featuring local, Middle Tennessee iconography.

So that’s cool, right? I casually walked by a few times. Then I stood there a minute. Then I started talking to Adrien Saporiti (the owner/founder/artist, himself). THEN he told me the story of the company and pointed out to me what I hadn’t noticed before: DCXV is Roman numeral for 615 – Middle Tennessee’s area code. How neat is that?!

So then, naturally, I bought two t-shirts (American Apparel, by the way) at $25 each.

Then, the next day, I came back and bought a third one. Because I was so wow’d by everything – from the company name, to the product, to the owner/founder/artist, to the spirit of the company in general.

Why It All Matters

I’m not keeping an exact count, but I’ve told A LOT of people about how great I think this stuff is. On my way out, I even stopped by one of my favorite clothing stores on Main Street and raved about the shirts I bought.

You know what I’m talking about, because you’ve raved about products and/or services before too. This is not a unique situation. In fact, it’s really common.

This kind of sharing is the best, most meaningful, and easiest way to gain new customers. Word-of-mouth is a powerful thing – and every time you connect with another person around your brand, you have an opportunity to “wow” them with a story they want to share. You never know when you’re building a brand evangelist.

So be passionate, tell your story, and commit to creating a great experience. Every time. …Then watch it spread.

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