8 ways to attract your ideal clients using your brand
At the end of the day, the main purpose behind your brand is to attract your ideal clients.
At the end of the day, the main purpose behind your brand is to attract your ideal clients. You want to make money, you want to do the type of work you love to do, and you want to do it with the people you love to work with.
Here are eight ways you can use your brand to attract your ideal clients.
Colours
We are visual creatures and colour draws attention. Make sure to use colours that will not only draw attention but draw the correct attention. Sometimes, black text on a white background will draw the right people better than a rainbow. The trick here is to understand your ideal clients and know what will attract them.
On top of that, you can use the power of the subconscious. Everybody already makes associations with specific colours. For example, white can mean purity and can also mean death. Red can mean passion, anger, celebration, or power. Depending on your ideal clients, you should already know what associations they would make with specific colours.
Images
As with colours, using visuals in your brand can help you draw attention. Whether you are using photos, icons, illustrations, videos, infographics, or any other visuals, you want to make sure that what you are trying to represent with those visuals can be easily understood by your ideal clients.
Remember the saying a picture is worth a thousand words? Your job when choosing your visuals is to ensure that the correct a thousand words come to mind, not anything random. On top of that, focus on feelings rather than descriptions. A dark image can convey depression but it can also represent luxury. As with colours, learn what associations your ideal client will make based on specific images and work from that.
Personality
How you and your brand present yourself to the public can definitely impact who you draw in. When it comes to audience-based brands, your brand may have a different personality from yourself as an individual. That doesn't mean though that you can't express both. The trick here is to make a connection on a subconscious level, put yourself on the same playing field as someone who understands your clients because you are them.
In addition, you can use the power of the collective unconscious. This is a theory that all human beings have access to the same information. A perfect example of this is the 12 Jungian archetypes. Every single person feels a deeper connection to one of these archetypes over the other. Find the one (or two, or three) that connects with your ideal client best and use that.
Language
The way you write your blog articles and social media captions can draw a different type of audience. And not only the language itself you use, but the punctuation, spelling, formatting, and structure of your content. Think about what your audience wants to see, do they want to hear it, see it, or read it.
On top of that, there are more subtle changes. Asking questions all the time where the answer from your ideal client will always be yes makes it easier for them to say yes when you finally make your pitch. Creating lists is different from writing full paragraphs and having sections broken off into headings with short sentences is different from a full essay.
Content
A lot of people would say this one is the most important one, but I do like to keep it on the same level as the others. The point is to draw attention but your content can not only draw it, it can also keep it. Make sure you understand your ideal clients and what type of information they want to know in order to provide that specifically to them.
In addition, make sure you are always relevant and can share specific keywords. When I say keywords, I do not necessarily mean SEO and hashtags, but using or not using specific words in your language. For example, always using clients over customers and never using the word just. Using the word need gives a different feeling from using the word want.
Referrals
We all know how powerful referrals can be, so make sure you are using yours properly. And not only referrals. Think about referrals on the same level as social proof and testimonials. Whatever you want to call it, sharing experiences with your ideal clients of others like them having worked with you will make it easier for them to put themselves in those shoes and see themselves working with you instead of someone else.
This is also where your portfolio, success stories, and case studies can be really useful. These are more detailed than a quote and can also show your process while doing the work you enjoy, breaking it down and making it easier for your ideal clients to understand what it is you do and how.
Collaborations
Similar to referrals, collaborations can definitely help you in drawing more attention to your brand. You can do these with big industry names, other small businesses, help smaller businesses than your own, or join in on events, talks, and summits. When you are invited to events like these, it gives you credibility from others in the industry.
Collaborations do not have to be very big either, you can go as small as you want. The most important thing about collaborations though is to ensure that they will be visible to your ideal clients. For example, talking at a summit can help you reach a new audience, but it may not have your ideal clients, while doing a live session on social media may not give you many new eyes, but it gives your current audience more insights.
Organization
Keeping your brand organized tells your ideal clients that you can keep them organized. Sometimes, that may not have as high of an impact on the final decision as to the other items, but what it does have an impact on is your process and how you work with this client. For example, if they see your brand is all over the place, then they may think your work for them will be the same.
Think about how organizing your brand can help your clients. For example, if you have a specific window open for instant replies, make sure to always reply at that time. When you are sending over files, make it easier on yourself to know where those files are so you are less likely to make mistakes and can respond faster.