How to identify your target audience and repel customers.

Identifying your target audience is the most important task your business will do

Ooh, the title of this article or blog, The Art of Repelling Customers, is not to be divisive. It's not about losing customers. It's the art of knowing who your customers are and aren't.

As I write this, I'm sitting here with a lunch drink – fresh, cold-pressed beetroot and pear juice. Now, I think most people will think, "Ugh, liquid beetroot? No thanks. Not for me".

It's gonna repel some people, and that's okay. Those little character traits and quirks make us unique. For me, I quite like the earthy taste of the beetroot.

Onto the topic, we need to be careful not to make everyone our ideal customer. Home truth: Your brand is not the right fit for everyone. 

And that's okay! Because there's a little portion of people that are just perfect for you! That you can turn into your raving super fans, which is the idea of branding.

I will outline three steps to help you find your ideal customers and repel the wrong ones. They'll be customers that: 

• you don't want to work with; 
• you don't want to buy from you;
• Or ones that are not gonna be happy with the end product. 

When a project slips through, it can be disheartening and frustrating. And in reality, it's in your control, as you control your brand's message. 

It's time to take responsibility for our part in attracting those non-ideal customers. We have all said yes to something and regretted it.

Stand for something

Like attracts like — we all prefer to hang around with like-minded people with similar values. 

I go to the gym and make friends with other gym goers. People with common interests give us those warm little fuzzies inside. 

When brands don't take a stand for something or lack personalities, it becomes harder for customers to relate to them and say, "Ooh, I like all those things too!" 

Conversely, there can be conflicts when we attract customers who don't share our values. We need to decide:

• What we stand for;
• What we do;
• Who we serve; And...
• How we do it? 

Then exclude everything else. Once we outline those little boundaries, they are our checklist for determining whether that person fits our brand. Not quite? Okay. It's time to move on. 

If we can set ourselves outlines, people will also see them and come to us because our brand resonates with them. 

A quick example is that I love working with conscious, ethical brands, so I connect with people with a similar mindset and brands in this space. I want to work with more ethical brands. If a coal mining company came to me, they're not a good fit for my brand. 

Naturally, those decisions repel customers. 

Connect with customers and grab the Emotional Branding Download.

Get to know your ideal customer

Every customer you work with helps you better understand your ideal customer. The projects that challenge you to meet the brief and deliver maximum value, the ones that genuinely excite you, get you closer to recognising who that ideal customer is.

In old-school branding theory, there are what are known as brand archetypes. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, created them in 1919. Jung believed humans have one dominant trait that leads to typical behavioural patterns, desires, values, and motivations. I agree with this, but I also think modern people are multifaceted and complex.

You have things like the Sage and the Creator. There's nothing wrong with them, but given that they are a 100+ year-old concept, how relevant are they today?

For this, I cross more into the marketing side of branding and work more on building customer personas. Personas get into the nitty-gritty of character-building. What do they like, dislike, read, and what is their coffee order? That list is endless and needs to be driven by market research.

What are the customer traits, quirks, wants and needs? 

When building out your personas, you can learn from everything: LinkedIn profiles (like my LinkedIn profile), Reddit, Instagram, and wherever else you bump into customers. 

You can even talk with people or brands that align with your brand. 

These quirks, traits, wants, and needs will help you understand what content you should produce to talk to your ideal customers. They will also tell you where to promote your offerings and highlight who your ideal customers are!

Those little information nuggets will form the basis of your market research, which in turn, informs your brand strategy — helping you target your ideal customers and keep them coming back.

Set customer expectations

Set expectations of what services you offer and what you don't offer. For example, if you were a company specialising in indoor plant hiring, you'd have a lot of expertise in looking after and caring for indoor plants. But probably don't know as much about outdoor plants. Let people know that you're not the right fit. Setting expectations allows you to save time by being completely transparent. 

While that might repel some, people will appreciate the time saved and might contact you in the future. 

——— 

To wrap up, this is not an airtight solution. The wrong customers will probably leak through, but being aware of the customers who aren't right for you will help you spot them before they sign up for a project or a service. 

The next time you're having a hard time with a customer or feeling frustrated or helpless. Think about how you can set better expectations and refine your ideal customer persona. 

Decide what you stand for, what you do, who you serve and how you do it and stick to it. No matter how hard it is to say no. 

Do you need help defining your brand, including who you serve, what your product is, and what makes you unique? Don't be a stranger, book a call today.