Curious customers that want to get to know your company better don't have a lot of options. They could perhaps find a few staff photos on Instagram, check out your Linkedin, but their first port of call? The little 'About Us' button at the top of your website.
It’s a useful way for customers to satisfy their curiosity, learn more about your brand and is, therefore, an invaluable tool for converting leads. Most ‘About Us’ pages are a few paragraphs slapped together, giving a rundown of the company and its products.
Your ‘About Us’ section is about you, of course, but it's also about the customer and how your journey and CPG align with their values and maybe, solve their problems. Ready to see how to build an effective ‘About Us’ page for your CPG?
Let's take a look.
Tell Your Company Story
This is the best way to showcase your values and add a human element to your brand. These days, especially with start-ups, readers want to hear your story, struggles, overcoming issues and the big wins. They also want to check the values you express are in line with their own. If they feel convinced, you will likely earn their trust ー and hopefully a loyal customer.
A story has characters, problems, and resolutions. Great ‘About Us’ pages incorporate these elements to relate to their readers and guide them along the company’s journey in an engaging way.
Start at the beginning
And walk the reader through to the present day. That seems obvious, but a big mistake people often make when writing this type of content is listing off accolades and writing some unconnected anecdotes, then calling it a day. Remember, we are humanizing the brand and a good story undergoes change.
Your ‘About Us’ page should illustrate the change from where the brand began to where it is now and how your product was instrumental in making it happen.
Talk about the challenges your brand faced in the early stages, how you adjusted your strategy, what you overcame and how you found a resolution. What was the ‘aha’ moment? What kept you going on the toughest days, show your belief in the brand and products you have! Use the story to let your customers know your mission, goals, values and what you hope the future holds.
This page is your chance to create trust between you and your (potential) customer, so get all the parts of your story across, even the tough bits. Creating empathy between the writer and the reader, as well as understanding and the purpose of this brand’s existence is crucial.
Share Pictures and Stories From Your Staff
Humanizing your brand allows your customers to shift their perspective of your company from money-hungry to a business run by real people with a story and purpose. Introducing your team by incorporating pictures and stories of each or a few of them is an excellent way to shed some light on your company's humanity.
Consider breaking up your ‘About Us’ page with photos, it adds a bit of variety to the page. Interact with readers using animations, scrollable timelines or compelling photos. They are a perfect way to entertain and engage the reader.
Including pictures of your team is excellent. Photos of your team doing the things your company is all about is even better. Take Yeti, for instance. Their ‘About Us’ section has pictures of the founders fishing on top of an old, shabby cooler, while telling the story of how those flimsy boxes inspired them to create their now world-famous, indestructible adventure coolers.
Videos are also excellent sources of media to include too. Going back to Yeti, they include a section with their story alongside videos of adventurers tackling the outdoors. They add another level of social proof and trust to your ‘About Us’ page that keeps readers curious and interested. It also shows a little something about you ー you’re proud of your company and its success!
Talk About Products and Ethics
You will want to talk about what you sell and what you stand for, and if possible, how those two things are intertwined. Try to avoid the hard sell, though, that’s what the rest of your site is focused on.
If your packaged cereal is geared toward being environmentally conscious, then frame your story around those things. Explain the gap you saw in the market, why you discovered it and how you created your product to solve that problem. And don't forget to engage the reader with a story as opposed to bland statements.
Social responsibility, diversity, and environmental awareness are a few examples of business ethics. A mistake some businesses make is not having clearly defined ethics and values. Your customers want to know who you are. To see the complete picture, they need to know what you stand for on top of what you sell.
By weaving your products into the storyline of your values, you bring your brand to life. Customers, whether they agree or disagree with your message, can relate to what you’re saying, which empowers them to make an informed decision on whether to do business with you or not.
Think about the angle
Are you humble? Human? Are you breaking down business jargon to put you on the level of the reader? Are you showing you truly understand your customer and their needs? Maybe you’re more lovable, or funny, or playful. Perhaps the main thing is highlighting a serious issue, a strong social responsibility.
Really take time to brainstorm who you are and what the core of your CPG is about and what your story is before setting up your ‘About Us’ page. Figure out your unique identity and share it with the world!
We are here to help
If you liked this and are looking for more helpful information to jump-start your CPG website, then head over to Buffalo Market’s blog for all of the latest industry tips and tricks.
Support
Sales