photo experienceThe following is a guest post by Jim Joseph, author of The Experience Effect and President of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications.

The ultimate goal of any marketing plan is to get consumers to incorporate your brand into their lives. But the truth is that just getting them to remember your brand can be quite a feat!

So as marketers, how do we make our brands more memorable?

The answer is elemental: get to know your consumers better!

Most marketers tend to think that they know their consumers pretty well, but I’ve yet to meet one that couldn’t know more. So make it your job to get to know your consumers better than ever before, and better than anyone else in the category.

Easy for me to say – in practice this can be a lot of work, so start by focusing. Pick one or two consumer segments that will make the biggest impact on your business. Target them first, and focus your attention on learning all about them.

Get to know how these consumers live their lives and how your brand can add value. Spend as much time as you can and walk in their shoes for a day or a week. Watch the television shows they watch, read the magazines they read, and trace their activity on the internet. Try to see the struggles they face in their daily lives. Analyze where your brand can exist in their lives and where it can make a difference.

With such rich knowledge in hand, you can start communicating with your consumers in ways that they will appreciate and then engage with you. With deeper consumer understanding, you will know how to construct your brand offerings and marketing to suit their needs, rather than your own, which will ultimately build loyalty. And in this age of social media, every loyal consumer opens up an entire network of like-minded consumers may also potentially join your brand.

Jim Joseph is the author of the new book The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience (AMACOM ).  He is an award-winning consumer marketing professional who has built blockbuster brands for clients including Kraft, Kellogg’s, Cadillac, Tylenol and Wal-Mart. He is currently president and partner of Lippe Taylor Brand Communications in New York City.