If you’re an entrepreneur, solopreneur, creative, freelancer or coach, however you identify yourself. You’ve probably be told by me or someone else that you now your ideal Customer. I’m guessing you probably already got something drawn up, maybe you created when you were doing your marketing plan or sale funnels. Either way your brand strategy is under pined by your ideal customers profile too. I want to to explain what I’m mindful of when building an ideal customer profile in relationship to brand strategy for my clients. I think this can really help anyone who is DIY ing branding or want to update and improve their brand strategy. Brand strategy has lot of moving part, it not domino effect, it like a jigsaw puzzle you create boards and have to start filling in sections. Each section effects and influences other areas. I’lll touch on what to include and more importantly how your ideal customer profile can influence your brand persona.
Audio Time Stamp | 01:55
Ideal Customer Basic Information and Deeper
Let’s start off by zooming into who your ideal customer is, I know you’re thinking yawn! I’ve got my ideal customer profile, but let’s evaluate a little. If you’ve got the basics of your ideal customer like ages, income, location, career etc. But have you understood what drives them? What motivated them? What they fear? What really make your ideal person tick.
We aren’t going to miss use this information in unethical way with fear-monger tactics and impossible promises that our business product or service wont be able to meet. But rather use it in a creative way, to mould and inspire how we should position your brand personality, other factor will contribute towards this along the way. But by making sure the way in which we mould our brand personality will attract this ideal person over another is essential. Think of it this way when we meet someone who has similar interests and values in life to our own we are more drawn to them, like attracts like. So ideally we need to know them before we create position our own brand personality.
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The Trap of Being Too Subjective!
When build an ideal customer, it can be super easy and get carried away with you want to work with and become very subjective. Remember you also need to sprinkle a little objectiveness in there too. When creating your ideal custom you need to be making appropriate decisions and assumptions. For example, the age you are target might not be suitable, if your selling a custom expensive handmade item but targeting 18 year olds who are less likely to have as much disposable income. So it’s important that you are clear about who your ideal customer, question is that person is appropriate for your offer.
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Gotta Like the Ideal Customer You Want To Attract!
As a small business owner it is vitally that you like the person you want to sell to. Specially for service based business your the person that’s going to be working close with them! You don’t want to pick an ideal custom with a personality or business type that doesn’t mesh with your own. It’s usually a good betting that you ideal customer, will probably over lap with similar characteristic and values as such as yourself. So don’t stray too far away from who you are and what you feel comfortable with. It’s far easier to attract for you to be yourself and attract your ideal customer than you trying to be personality you are not, that why personal brand are so popular.
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Identify You Ideal Customer & their True Brand Archetype
Brand archetypes are helpful, if you didn’t know what the heck archetype are they are simple a set of personas bade on 12 key human desirers and values. They can help you by providing your identity which of Archetype best suit your ideal client so you can align your brand persona closely. Some people have created this miss-understanding and see archetype as more stereotypes, but if you view brand archetype as more of a skeleton and you can dress it up however you want then it’s more of a jumping of point. Researching brand archetype can be really helpful tool if you are unsure how to form an ideal customer profile and brand persona. A great way to build deeper emotional connection with your customer and your brand.
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Small Business Have The Upper Hand! Use it!
Remember all small business owners, just like you have the upper hand than bigger business, because we can really niche down with who it is that we are talking to. Both in our branding and marketing efforts. Larger corporation or commodity based business are trying to target the masses, therefore have more of a target audience or group, which is a zoomed out lens of an ideal customer – casting a wider view on people rather than one specific person and personality. This could be a reason as to why small business find it easier to attract because they can relate to their ideal person on a deeper level through again a both branding and marketing.
With this in mind, don’t think for one second that your ideal customer profile will hurt your growth and traffic. It will more likely have the opposite effect the more clear your ideal customer is in your mind the stronger it can influencer your brand personality and be more direct with your people through all your brands communication.
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Why I Provide My Clients With A Wider Scope Lens
However I still include in my brand strategy for client a wider scope. Essentially they would be fine without it. But from personal experience with running my own small brand. We have moment where we feel too narrowed in too focused and can start to procrastinate or over analysis what we are putting out is right for ideal customers.
I never want this frustration and confusing to happen to my clients brand after working with me. So once we’ve gone deep into who their ideal customer is, we also zoom back out to take only the essence pieces of who they are and create a target group. This isn’t meaning you forget all the other stuff it’s just a simplified version for my clients to be able to refer back to, specially in those moment when they think they are being confided too much! I want them to be able to breath and not have to stick to such a in-depth ideal customer script.
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Your Brands Tone Of Voice
There is one more quick thing it’s like to include is that your ideal custom can also influence what type of voice you choose to have. It not always just about what your saying but actually how you choose to say that thing! Your type of voice and tone should be consistent across all platforms, and this should be heavily influenced to what your ideal customers might prefer. When we talk to someone with a more natural conversational language we can be put at ease more quickly, if we include humour into out brand voice we can be more entertaining and memorable, if you just want to be clear and direct you can be perceived as more honest and transparent. There are a different reason to why you might want to use nay of these traits, maybe your audience is in a rush and descriptive language isn’t going to help them! So clear and direct is key is doesn’t have to be cold but does need to get to the point without the so called fluffy for your ideal customer! Figure our what traits and tone you decided come more naturally to you when talking and what elements you want to be inject into your brand voice that can help your ideal customer feel more connected with you.
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Update Improve Your Ideal Customer Profile So You can Attract More People Through Your Aligned Branding
Ok so this it from me today, but before you exit out of this episode i want to go through every you learnt because i did ramble on a bit today! So in no real order, zoom into your ideal customer and understand their basic information career, age, gender etc. Understand what they fear and are driven and even motivated by are key areas to be aware of this can influence how you can mould your brand, because like attracts like. Stay consistent with who you are as a person far easy to attract people more like yourself than pretending to be someone you are not. Archetype are away a good idea to identify and give you the bones of your ideal customers desirers and values. Developing a clear and narrowed down overview of your ideal client will not hinder your growth in anyway more likely to give you the upper hand to attracting your people quickly and effortlessly! in times of procrastination we all need a simplified formula, creating an essential list of qualities and trait your ideal group should have is a good thing on hand for those moments! Matching your voice and tone to what your ideal customer most likely feel relate and comfortable with.
If you’re still on the fence about why branding is important specially for a small business go have a listen to episode 33 where I explain why branding is for anyone with a business large or small, but mainly I focus on small business part!