Branding is similar to a pickup concept I heard a long time ago called congruence.
If you act like a big baller buying bottles in the club but you have on a $50 watch that's incongruent. If you act cocky to a chick like you're a smooth player then later get visibly upset when she throws a small shit test like "I don't have sex the first night I meet a guy" then that's incongruent.
Everything your business does most be in full alignment with your target audience's expectations.
The first step in this is defining: who is my target audience?
And I don't mean just their demographic, what's their psychographic?
What keeps them up late at night?
What makes them feel alive?
What do they read/watch/listen/do?
What are they afraid of?
What do they believe?
Who do they trust and who do they pay attention to?
What is the source of their urgent need for your solution? Why would they change now rather than later?
You need to create a customer avatar - an imagined individual (give them a name to make this exercise easier) with these assortment of traits that you can then test your assumptions on.
How would they respond to X? Or how about to Y?
Depending on whether you have an existing audience also conduct research on them. Are they your target audience, and if not in what ways are they different?
Use analytics, surveys and read everything they write.
Look at your competitors. Is their target audience different and why are people purchasing from them instead of your brand?
Once you've deeply know your target audience and the audiences which currently use each business out there then shape all your marketing material to be in alignment with your chosen audience.
Dissuade those who are not part of your in-group and you'll see that it further attracts those that are part of your target audience. Your brand is an identity and just like brands like Apple you can get evangelists if you craft an image that your audience wants to relate to.
Observe the words they use when they talk to you or write about you. Mirror back to them the same language they use so they feel like you just get them.
Look deeply into their desires and pains and demonstrate exactly how your business is perfectly suited for solving them.
Once you meet all your target audience's expectations positively because you almost "read their mind" then they have no choice but to relate to you the most and feel best about doing business with you.
If you act like a big baller buying bottles in the club but you have on a $50 watch that's incongruent. If you act cocky to a chick like you're a smooth player then later get visibly upset when she throws a small shit test like "I don't have sex the first night I meet a guy" then that's incongruent.
Everything your business does most be in full alignment with your target audience's expectations.
The first step in this is defining: who is my target audience?
And I don't mean just their demographic, what's their psychographic?
What keeps them up late at night?
What makes them feel alive?
What do they read/watch/listen/do?
What are they afraid of?
What do they believe?
Who do they trust and who do they pay attention to?
What is the source of their urgent need for your solution? Why would they change now rather than later?
You need to create a customer avatar - an imagined individual (give them a name to make this exercise easier) with these assortment of traits that you can then test your assumptions on.
How would they respond to X? Or how about to Y?
Depending on whether you have an existing audience also conduct research on them. Are they your target audience, and if not in what ways are they different?
Use analytics, surveys and read everything they write.
Look at your competitors. Is their target audience different and why are people purchasing from them instead of your brand?
Once you've deeply know your target audience and the audiences which currently use each business out there then shape all your marketing material to be in alignment with your chosen audience.
Dissuade those who are not part of your in-group and you'll see that it further attracts those that are part of your target audience. Your brand is an identity and just like brands like Apple you can get evangelists if you craft an image that your audience wants to relate to.
Observe the words they use when they talk to you or write about you. Mirror back to them the same language they use so they feel like you just get them.
Look deeply into their desires and pains and demonstrate exactly how your business is perfectly suited for solving them.
Once you meet all your target audience's expectations positively because you almost "read their mind" then they have no choice but to relate to you the most and feel best about doing business with you.