Branding Miniseries
It’s every business owner’s dream to have clients who love what they do, become cheerleaders for their brand and, most importantly, become repeat clients. But the reality is that unless you are reaching your ideal client through your branding and targeted marketing, you’ll have a harder time being found by the people who will love what you do and come back time and again. Knowing what you want your branding to say about your business is Step One, which we covered last week. Knowing your ideal client is Step Two. Actually, it’s not even Step Two. It’s like Step 1.1. If you don’t know who you’re trying to attract, your branding won’t be as effective as it could be. So, who is your ideal client?
We’re going to dissect this in a way similar to how we dissected finding our brand’s personality. I want you to describe your ideal client in vivid detail. Where do they shop for clothes? What kind of car do they drive? How much money do they make? What kind of job do they have? Do they have kids? What do they do for fun? Do they enjoy the beach or the mountains more? Do they enjoy the simple things in life or do they lean toward extravagance?
Constructing your ideal client in this fashion will help to reveal not only the consistencies between your brand and your ideal client, but the consistencies in your style and aesthetic and theirs. If your ideal client shops at J Crew, they probably lean toward clean lines, classic Americana, and a preppy aesthetic. If they shop at Pucci, they probably lean toward colorful, lively aesthetics. The more you can visualize your ideal client and what they gravitate toward, the more you can design your branding to appeal to that clientele.
All of the things you discover during these exercises will inform your logo design, color choices, website design, and marketing. So even though it may seem a bit silly at times, the importance of the information you will gather can’t be overstated.
Next time we’ll dive into branding versus marketing. How are they different and why do you need both? Stay tuned!