It all boils down to one thing: how you are marketing yourself in your business and standing out to make a social impact on your ‘desirable’ set of customers.
Not all customers that knock on your [metaphorical] Web site headquarters would be the ones who are really interested in what you are offering. In fact, quite a couple of times, there will be some cases where you will encounter potential customers who may be seemingly interested in your brand, only to bypass this opportunity later on.
That is why it is important to have an ‘agreeable’ brand imagery where would you desire to showcase via your brand is, quite appropriately, also perceived largely the same way by your ídeal’ set of customers.
The ensuing question then is: is your brand conveying the right messages on your promotion platforms? As you wouldn’t want any random person to Google your brand’s name and see a flurry of online results that completely not justify what you stand for. There has to be alignment between what you desire to communicate and what people deduce through the information that comes up online when they search for you.
So the first step for you should be to define your ideal customer avatar. Not the generic or bland descriptions; figure out what kind of customers you want to speak with, and do business with. For example, Starbucks is generally perceived as a place that is a home away from home; a sense of camaraderie is felt when you visit any Starbucks coffee shop. This is simply because Howard Schultz knows the kind of crowd it wants to attract through its brand’s purpose. Besides, it wants to be perceived as a brand that is more than just a coffeehouse. However, the answer is clear: whether you want to attract a variety of customers or stick to a specific customer avatar, it all hinges on how your brand’s purpose intersects with your customers’ experience. It is then, that I can safely say that you have attracted the right customers.
As nicely put by Russo in her post, here, putting your brand on the pedestal of forging relations that thrive over a period of time, instead of merely reflecting yet-another-business conversation that sounds transactional, can help you get in touch with prospective customers that value long-term business relationships. And what’s more? Your business brand is perceived as not just relational, but also as a mutually satisfying association opportunity.
How? Keep reiterating your brand’s purpose clearly on all your online and offline touchpoints – in every blog post, video, white paper, your ábout me’ section, your ‘contact us’ section, your social media profiles, work culture, values and work ethic that can lay out your reasons for connecting with new customers.
Hence it is crucial to first understand every bit of your customers – from a demographic, psychographic, interests, day to day behavior, and their agile mindset standpoint– to decipher whether your brand can truly connect with them at the most fundamental level, first. If not, keep looking out; don’t stop until you find your right customers. And, in some time, your brand will blossom when your customers write that first testimonial on your Web site – giving you enough and more reasons to take pride in how you have made an even stronger, relatable business/ personal brand through winning customers.
What is your strategy to attract your ideal customer?
