What separates the good from the great?

What makes one brand a smashing success and the other a mere blip on the radar?

Most importantly, what can you do to ensure your company is the former, not the latter?

Of course, there’s no set-in-stone recipe for success, but we’ve seen a lot of both worlds here at Haley Aerospace, and we’re pretty in tune with what makes aerospace brands successful—and profitable.

In fact, we’ve even boiled it down to some simple A-B-Cs. No matter what sector of the industry you’re in, these five traits are crucial to reaching your target audience, resonating with them and, ultimately, converting them to paying customers.

Approachable

Today’s consumers want brands to engage—to have two-way, interactive conversations with them. And that even goes for B2B brands.

Thanks to the growth of social media, providing this level of approachability isn’t difficult—it just takes some resources. Research where your target customers hang out and what platforms they use. Then, devote time and effort to optimizing your presence there, posting regular content and, most importantly, interacting with your followers.

When done right, good social media management can even help with your SEO!

Believable

Trust and transparency are also vital—especially as fear of the media and “fake news” grows. Customers fear being conned, and instead crave honest, authentic, real interactions with brands that bare it all. They want to know how it’s made, who’s making it and who’s selling it to them. After all, they’re spending their hard-earned money; they want to ensure it’s being spent wisely and in line with their views and values.

It might sound like a tall order to pull back those B2B curtains a bit, but brand transparency and believability actually has serious long-term effects for a business. According to a recent survey, 56 percent of consumers said they’d be brand-loyal for life if the company were 100-percent transparent with them.

Considerate

Now I’m not saying be polite here (you should do that anyway!). What I mean by “considerate” is that brands must consider the unique needs and situations of their customers—and not just assume each one is created equal.

Put yourself in the shoes of your audience, and tailor your messaging exactly to their mindset. What are they going through? What hurdles are they facing? What challenges do they need help overcoming? Address those concerns with targeted content (blogs, articles, e-books or even products) they can actually put to use and get value from. Be sure to segment your efforts, too; one-size fits all never makes anyone feel special.

Dependable

Aerospace brands—especially B2B ones—need to be dependable and consistent. In many cases, customers are shelling out thousands, even millions of dollars on one single purchase, and they need to know they’re getting quality products, top-notch service and absolute value every time.

This is where customer feedback can come in handy. Make sure to regularly solicit reviews and testimonials, and send out occasional surveys to ensure your customers are satisfied. If they’re not, use their input as a guidebook on what to improve and how to going about doing it.

Educated

No one wants to buy from a company that doesn’t know what it’s talking about. They want to buy from an expert—the single-most knowledgeable and experienced brand in their space.

Show your customers you’re the go-to resource in the industry. Create blogs, articles, emails and web content that answers their questions, addresses their concerns and empowers them to be a more educated buyer. The more you prove to them your expertise, the more likely they’ll come to you in their time of need (even if that’s years down the line).

How’d Your Brand Fare?

Is your brand in line with our A-B-Cs? Need a little help getting there? Drop me a line. Our team has helped dozens of aerospace brands become the top of their class, and we can help you, too.