Guest written by: Mohamed Samad, CEO of Matic

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups are considered the backbone of UAE’s economy, making up for 40 per cent of the country’s GDP. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, nearly 300,000 SMEs account for 92 per cent of UAE companies, and employ 86 per cent of the private sector workforce, while the global international development organization, Spark, estimates that 19 per cent of the world’s entrepreneurs come from the Middle East.

With such a high percentage of companies, it is very easy to get lost among the clutter and fail to get noticed. So how can a start-up stand out from the crowd, how can it be successful? Well, the secret lies in staying personal.

Know the consumer
Knowing your customer is the first step in staying personal. On a continuing basis, conversations, observations, discussions or research will allow you to know what’s going on inside your consumer’s mind. Without this knowledge, you will never know what their trigger is and how they really feel about your product. Keep the communication going at all times and stay open to feedback – good or bad.

Partners first, customers later
It is true that they are customers to some extent, but first and foremost they are part of your community. The idea here is that you can allow people who are your biggest advocates to be your spokespersons – on social media or through word of mouth. It all builds up to the goal that your brand is driven by community rather than people in a marketing department.

Building brand image and loyalty
The most effective way to build brand image is to consistently deliver the best experiences to your customers so much that they become advocates of your products or service. The first step to delighting the customer is to be able to know their end objective and most important reason for buying your brand.

Then, it’s mapping the consumer’s decision making process, concerns and issues and installing systems to exceed expectations so much so such that the experience as a whole is delightful one. When experience will exceed their requirements, real brand loyalty be born.

Connect with customers
With the smart use of the right mediums for the right business, one could exponentially grow their visibility at almost minimal costs. Speaking regularly to your customers – whether on social media or in person – is absolutely vital for staying personal. With the use of Facebook pages, an SME can connect and speak to their consumers, the specific demographics can be mapped and the business can monitor the visibility very closely.

Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, blogs etc all give voice and a face to the brand and can be used as catalysts to help consumers fall in love with your brand. Use of apps in staying in touch with customers and making your services available at their fingertips is another significant way to carve a niche for yourself.

Adopt a cause and be a thought leader
Every brand should stand up for something and then become the voice for that which they hold most dearly. When the core team introspects they will find one or more key messages or words that springs up in multiple discussions. Innovation, empowerment, emerging markets, logistics, cloud computing or even employee welfare.

Find these and use every opportunity to talk about it and associate your brand with them. Stay in touch with your core fan base. Target your audience, focus on the core needs and requirements, address them and they will talk about it. That’s how you stay personal.