Business owners, it is time to WAKE UP – that’s right – when it comes to your branding, your opinion doesn’t matter. Okay, I know it’s a hard concept to wrap your brain around; I mean, it’s your company, your ideas and your vision, right? Well yes, but that’s where it stops.
You’re in business for your customers. So, when you’re envisioning and constructing your brand identity, you need to focus on your target market. The truth is, if your brand identity and brand messaging don’t line up with your customers’ and potential customers’ ideas of your company, you’re dead in the water.
Bite the Bullet
Let’s face it: criticism is hard to hear! But if you’re not attracting the right clients, bad branding may be to blame. It could be your logo, your slogan and/or your overall look. So, even if you love your logo and your look, it could be hurting your business. Instead of getting defensive, try to listen to what others are saying about your brand. You should seek out this kind of commentary; don’t run from it. It’s important to recognize that much of that criticism can actually help you attain the customers you seek!
So how do you attract those ideal customers?
Pick Your Brain, Find Your Niche
Right now, there are a ton of business owners out there who have recently found out (often the hard way) that they just can’t realize continued success if they don’t change their marketing ways – mainly because their market is constantly changing and it’s often harder to identify.
It’s time to not only find your niche target market, but also to discover how to attract customers from within that chosen market.
To uncover your niche market, try completing these three exercises:
- List three types of individuals or companies your company most effectively helps. Be as specific as possible.
- List all the solutions your products or services can offer the individuals or companies you identified in exercise 1.
- Describe your dream project: the perfect project, handed over to you by your ideal customer.
Better Brand + Effective Niche Marketing = More Ideal Customers!
Once you sit down and work through these exercises, you should have a better idea of exactly whom you’re targeting. By now, you should be able to make generalizations about your ideal customer’s age, education level, likes and dislikes, geographical location and more.
Next, you need to figure out where your target customers hang out so you can employ your brand strategy directly in your niche market. Ask yourself: what magazines do my ideal clients read? What are their favorite websites? What kinds of other products and services do they purchase?
You can use this information to work with a branding professional to reinvigorate your brand and then present it to your newfound target audience. A branding professional can use this information to effectively align your brand with your niche market. Then, you can get out there and obtain those ideal clients via a targeted marketing plan.
When you identify your ideal clients, you can discover the most effective branding strategy for your niche – and that means more business for you!
Need a Brand Alignment? Click here to get details on how you can get me to review your companies branding materials and give you personalized tips on how to brand extraordinary.
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