In order to do successful marketing, you must understand who you are marketing to. More importantly, you must figure out who your ideal customer or client is.
Once you define who this perfect persona is, you will be able to speak their language, understand what their problems are, and you/your business will be the ones to help solve their problems. You'll know how to market to them.
Here you make up a fictitious (yet plausible) person who would be ideal for your business. Even if your business caters towards other businesses, you will still be talking to one person who is going to actually do the business with you. That’s the person who we are manifesting in the exercise. Remember, people do business with people.
Give this persona a first and last name, a persona type (soccer mom, techy gamer, creative hipster, etc), one age (because one can only be one age at a time, not a range), and a gender they identify with. Continue with identifying as many demographics as you can for them, their story, needs, and how you can exceed their expectations.
Demographics - Basic facts about the customer
What's their full name?
What is their sex/gender?
How old are they? (Again, be specific, don't give a range)
What age group are they in? (Baby Boomers, Millenials, iGens, etc.)
Where did they grow up? (Country, city, state, borough, neighborhood)
Where do they live now?
Are they married, single, or dating?
Do they have kids?
Where do they work?
How much money do they make per year (or per hours)?
Do they work full-time or part-time?
What's their disposable income? (How much money do they have left to play with after bills are paid?)
Story - What are they like and what are their challenges?
Are they in debt?
Where do they like to hang out?
What are they struggling with right now?
Do they want to escape the 9-5pm or what?
Do they have a side hustle?
What do they do for fun?
What are their favorite brands?
What type of music do they listen to?
What's their favorite color?
Needs - What does your ideal customer need and why?
What can you give them to overcome their challenges?
What is holding them back from getting wha they need?
Exceed - How can you exceed their expectations?
This may all seem crazy, but like I said, you absolutely need to know who you are targeting. That way you can talk to them in the right language. You will understand how much money they have to spend on you and your business. You will advertise in the places they hang out at. Your brand might speak to their favorite color. You will know what makes them tick and how to make them incredibly happy.
All of these elements will help your ideal customer establish a comfortable relationship with your brand. They will trust your brand because you are speaking to them directly, and they will go to you and/or your business time and time again.
This exercise is just one out of the ten that are part of my Brand Discovery workshop session. If you can't wait to discover the soul of your business and strategize for success, check out the page for more information.
Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. You'll get a checklist to review before branding (or rebranding) your business.
Thanks and Love!