How to define your ideal customer for maximum brand impact
5 tips to identify your ideal customer & sharpen your branding
Without an audience you have no engagement; if you have the wrong audience, you're building in the wrong direction.
Defining your audience is a critical first step in branding.
Here are five really quick, easy and actionable tips to help you take steps to keep your branding simple, luminous and bright.
Here are some of our tips to help you refine or review your own 'about us' page.
We are a brand studio based in Torquay, South Devon, offering branding, website design & brand video to creative businesses across the UK - this is part of our series of branding tips (alongside website and video), and you can find out more about our branding & visual identity services for businesses.
1. Age, sex, location
ASL: the classic opening gambit from internet chatrooms or messenger services back in the day.
It's a helpful aide memoire for one of the most vital aspects of branding - know thy audience.
Define your target customer and frame everything else around that, otherwise you're howling at the moon.
Here are a few things you can do practically:
Start with what you know - previous customers; those who’ve shown interest; people who’ve left positive reviews
It’s OK to look for people similar to you - at the end of the day, you will need to be able to relate and sell to them
Try to start local - it’s always easiest to build from what’s known and nearby
2. Define your niche
Even mass-market products have a target person in mind - price is often a give-away.
You should be no different; you can't appeal to everyone.
Start by identifying which industry or strata your ideal customer falls into. Not too broad and not overly narrow.
Here are a few things you can do practically:
It’s all right to have two or three groups, but be specific
If you have clients already, think about who you’ve enjoyed working with the most so far
Whom do you have most in common with personally?
3. Identify interests & hobbies
Good branding is about putting people first, and people have a life.
Interests and hobbies help you craft your brand to appeal to their aspirations and lifestyles.
It also allows you to align your values with those customers you most naturally gravitate towards.
Here are a few things you can do practically:
Think about your hobbies and interests - can you align them with your business and your customer?
How can you make work and play align more?
How do these activities make people feel too - e.g., healthy, peaceful, strong; this insight can be fed in later
4. How do they consume?
Shopping choices and habits can reveal valuable insights about your audience, again allowing you to align yourself, such as luxury, sustainable, family-orientated.
Books and reading material is another form of consumption that can feed into this research.
Here are a few things you can do practically:
Look at what people engage with on social media - which retailers or shops
How do those businesses brand themselves? What can you learn?
How do newspapers try to influence their readers - ask what can you learn
5. Find driving forces
Causes can feel a bit old hat, but the principle is sound - tap in to deeply held beliefs and motivations.
Whether it's the environment, sustainability or animal welfare, these are powerful undercurrents that drive people to engage and make decisions.
Align with them for impact.
Here are a few things you can do practically:
Be genuine and authentic - only tap into this if you believe in it
Ask if you value these things too - you’ll have to live it
Can you put a new spin or angle on a cause that’s unique to you?
Lastly, start to consider how and where you bring your insights to bear - where does your audience hang out?
These are our tips to help you get started with defining your ideal customers and what they look like, and we’d love to hear any of your thoughts or reflections. Do head over to the corresponding post on Instagram to join the conversation and share your opinion.
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We share website and branding tips; insights into brands we create; behind the scenes in our studio; as well as interesting events. Plus there are no silly marketing antics!
