When you’re building a brand, it’s easy to focus on what you like.
Your favourite colours. A font you love. A website style that catches your eye. A particular way of writing that sounds good to you. And while your personality should absolutely play a role in your brand, there’s another important person to consider: your customer.
A strong brand shouldn’t only represent your business. It should also connect with the people you’re trying to reach.
Who Are You Trying to Attract?
Before making decisions about your branding, it helps to have a clear idea of the type of customer or client you want to work with.
You don’t necessarily need to create an incredibly detailed profile with their exact age, job title and morning coffee order. Instead, think about the things that genuinely influence why someone would choose your business.
What are they looking for? What problem are they trying to solve? What matters to them when choosing a business like yours?
Understanding this makes it much easier to create a brand that speaks to the right people.
Your Brand Isn’t Only About Personal Taste
One of the more difficult parts of branding is separating personal preference from what works for the business.
You might love a particular colour or design style, but does it communicate the right message to your audience?
For example, a playful, colourful identity might work beautifully for a children’s brand but feel less appropriate for a business trying to communicate luxury and exclusivity.
That doesn’t mean your brand can’t reflect your personality. It simply means your choices should have a purpose beyond “I like it.”
Think About How You Want People to Feel
Good branding creates a feeling.
When someone lands on your website or sees one of your social media posts, what impression do you want them to have?
Perhaps you want them to feel reassured and confident. Maybe you want your business to feel friendly and approachable, or sophisticated and exclusive.
The answer will influence everything from your colours and photography to your typography and the way you communicate.
Instead of asking only, “Does this look good?”, ask, “Does this create the right feeling?”
Speak Their Language
Your brand voice is just as important as your visual identity.
The language you use should feel natural for your business while also being easy for your audience to understand and relate to.
If your industry uses a lot of technical terminology, remember that your customers may not use those same words. Clear, straightforward communication can often be much more effective than trying to sound overly formal or impressive.
At the same time, a luxury brand may communicate differently from a casual lifestyle business.
There isn’t one correct tone of voice. The goal is to find one that feels authentic to your business and appropriate for your audience.
Trying to Appeal to Everyone Can Weaken Your Brand
It can be tempting to make your branding as broad as possible because you don’t want to exclude potential customers.
But when you try to speak to absolutely everyone, your message can become so general that it doesn’t connect strongly with anyone.
Knowing who you’re trying to attract allows you to make clearer decisions about your design, messaging and marketing.
That doesn’t mean people outside your ideal audience can’t become customers. It simply gives your brand a clearer direction.
Your Audience May Change as Your Business Grows
The customers you wanted to attract when you first started your business may not be the same people you’re trying to reach today.
Perhaps your services have changed. Your pricing has increased. You’ve moved into a different market or discovered that a particular type of client is a much better fit for your business.
As your audience changes, your branding may need to evolve too.
It’s worth occasionally asking whether your current brand still speaks to the people you want to work with now — rather than the audience you had several years ago.
Final Thoughts
Your brand should feel like you, but it shouldn’t exist only for you.
The most effective branding finds the balance between representing your business authentically and connecting with the people you want to reach.
When you understand who you’re speaking to, decisions around your colours, imagery, messaging, website and marketing become much more intentional.
So, the next time you’re making a branding decision, ask yourself one simple question:
Who am I actually trying to speak to?
If you’re unsure whether your current branding is connecting with the right audience, feel free to get in touch at kayla@thebrandgypsy.com. I’d be happy to help you create a visual identity and website that feel true to your business while speaking to the people you want to reach.