First Impressions Count: How to Make the Right One With Your Business

Written by Viola Hughes

The first impression for businesses is vital. If the first time you interact with a business is negative, you are far less likely to use them or recommend them to someone else. In this guide, we look at how you can make the right first impression as a business.

1. Create eye-catching branding that pops

One of the simplest ways to make a great first impression is via the branding you use. Branding is the visual element that represents your business. These include items like logos, color schemes, marketing banners, and website content.

If you can create eye-catching branding, this immediately creates a positive impression for new customers. For example, if the first time someone interacts with your business is when they see your amazing logo design this will be imprinted in their mind – they have a positive first experience with your business.

There is a range of tools available you can use to create logos and graphics – many of them are free to use.

2. Use positive language on all of your marketing and online platforms

The language you use is also highly important. People get vibes and emotional reactions from the type of language we use. For example, if you use predominantly negative and aggressive language, potential customers will perceive your business as being aggressive and negative too.

As a result, always use positive language! This should apply to all your online content including emails, social media posts, website content, and replies to customer engagement.

If you breed positivity throughout your online content and language, new customers are bound to have a great first impression of your business.

3. Offer discounts and promotions

Customers love discounts! We love getting stuff for free, and we love feeling like something is excellent value for money! This automatically instills a sense of positivity and is a great tool to use. If the first time a customer sees your business, is via a social media post containing a discount code, they will think – wow, this business offers great value!

You can create promotions in many ways – social media contests, online-store only discounts, and email sign-up discounts, for example. The key is to still make it beneficial for your business. Only provide the benefit if the customer gives you something in return – this could be something simple like sharing your post and liking your Facebook page.

4. Interact with customers and value their opinions

We as customers love to know that we are heard. We also love to know that our opinions are valued and respected.

You can use this to boost customers’ first impressions. Make sure that you interact with your customers wherever possible. When you do this, make sure you are positive, show understanding, and show that you value what they are saying.

Examples of potential interactions include replies to social media posts, replies to blog comments, email responses, and website comment responses. Basically, anywhere your customers ask questions, give feedback, or just engage with you, engage back!

5. Associate with reputable businesses & people

Lastly, you can breed positivity via association. As a business, you should surround yourself with positive and reputable businesses and individuals. This helps create a bubble of positivity that customers will notice.

For example, you should only follow reputable and popular businesses on your social media accounts. People will notice this and it will improve their first impression of your business subconsciously via association.

Creating the right first impression is vital for businesses. A positive or negative first impression can greatly affect the next action that customers take. Ultimately, impressions can result in sales or a lack of – so make sure your first impression is the right one!