Brand Challenge: Who Are You Inviting In?
What type of people do you want to attract?
The brand challenge is who are you inviting into your business? Who do you want to show up at your business front door? Insights about these guests can help you craft a better business, better branding, clarity of your brand messages, better processes when you take the time to apply your insights to your strategy.
You can learn how to take better care of them (customer service). You can learn what they're struggling with so that you can provide them with not only what they want but what they need. You can learn what systems to implement to create a better customer experience.
Thankfully we are all unique individuals but our personal choices as well as the ones we make as entrepreneurs, managers and creators matter. If you read the blog post titled, “The Brand Challenge: Why Fake It Until You Make It is Terrible” you will note that it's hard to separate our humanity from our brand projections. I also point out why it can be better when you don’t try to separate the two.
How do you know the people that you are adding to your list are the right people and why? What is it about them that makes them the perfect or dream buyer/client for your business product or service? Go deeper keep asking and challenging yourself to ask better questions about them frequently.
Document this as you grow your business. Your business will evolve and so will your customers that engage with your brand. Notice patterns that emerge from your analysis of the people who serve or the ones that buy a product from you.
Go beyond the client avatar.
If you are in startup or dream up mode, give yourself permission to make up your ideal customer at first. Dream about the brand challenge who you are inviting in. As each customer shows up, start to study them one-by-one. As your customer base grows, you will be able to notice patterns and common traits in this group of people.
Get specific what are the traits that make them tick?
Do they wake up in the morning and meditate or do they go straight for milk and bourbon? I am being silly here, but it’s true that human behavior will give you clues on how to select the right brand messages to attract and influence the people you are inviting into your business.
Have you started a business or are you thinking about starting one?
This blog post is part of a series on business branding written for entrepreneurs by Andrea Robinson and published on LinkedIn Pulse. The links below will help you navigate other content you might be interested in reading:
SOS! I Started A Business I Need Help with My Brand
Brand Challenge: What You Do vs. What Others Think You Do
Brand Challenge: Make Selective Choices
Why "Fake It Until You Make It" is Terrible Branding Advice
