This guest column by Samantha Hartley of Enlightened Marketing
Craig's cheerful confidence vanished as soon as we sat down to discuss his business. The burst of clients he'd gotten at the end of last year had slowed, and he was starting to panic. Craig knew he needed to dial up his marketing, but he was stuck for new ideas and feeling overwhelmed.
No wonder! His target market was a long list (1-5), the last word of which was "Etc." Like most of my clients, Craig is multi-disciplinary and felt the need to offer every service he could… especially as money was getting tighter.
Offering everything was exactly the wrong thing to do!
The Three Most Common Branding Mistakes InfoGurus Make
Craig is not alone in his struggle to make marketing work. It's not the tactics that are failing him but rather accidental sabotage. He's missing these key components.
1. Not zeroing in on a specific target audience or "niche."
The first thing we need to know about a brand is who it's for. While mass market brands like Ford, Coca-Cola and Google can target everyone, small businesses must focus on a niche.Too often, InfoGurus expand their markets in search of more clients. You'd be better served by narrowing instead to a more specific niche. This can feel scary and counterintuitive. You may think, "I don't have enough clients now. How can I reduce my audience?"
First, it's rarely the case that an audience is too small; more likely the approach is too scatter-shot. The truth is, by niching, you're improving your message by making it more specific and relevant to one group. That gets their attention. You're able to focus more on services that work best for your specific market, and that makes you more effective.
Second, every InfoGuru has clients that drain their energy and those that give you great pleasure and pay you more. I don't believe in suffering, so cut the duds; those pleasurable and profitable clients hold the clue to your niche. So make sure to tell everyone who your very best clients are.
Note: Back in the day "small business owners" and "women" were actual niche markets, but that day is long gone. I'd advise you to look more deeply at the clients who benefit most from your services and see what they all have in common. That will get you closer to a meaningful niche.
2. Not highlighting your specialty.
Brands are about differentiation, and one way to stand out with your brand is to specialize.Almost everyone has a specialty; the challenge is to discover it. If you're good at a lot of things, you may struggle to hone in on one thing for fear of omitting something your clients need.
If you're concerned you don't have a specialty, then it's more likely that your gift comes so naturally to you that you don't even realize how distinctive it is.
For example, my engineering clients are bored by what they call "commodity work" but love to solve challenging problems. The team member hired to focus on a new niche confirmed my hunch when he said, "I love projects other engineers shy away from."
When I shared that I think their specialty is solving challenging engineering problems, the partners were intrigued but unsure. Was this really so unusual? I reminded them about the Superman cape they'd been gifted by a client for a miraculous solution. Recently the owner said proudly, "We're getting used to saying we solve challenging problems." And he's finding it perks up decision makers in his pitch meetings, too.
If you're wondering what your specialty is, look at what you do for clients that you most enjoy or that feels most effortless. Many times the thing you do so well that it doesn't actually feel like work is your main differentiator -- hiding in plain sight!
3. Bland brand messages.
Strong brands attract passionate, loyal users. They make and deliver on big promises. They weave their way inextricably into our lives. They seem to understand us better than our families. (I've often said Amazon suggests gifts for me better than anyone.)If you think that kind of emotional connection only works for business-to-consumer brands, you're missing a big opportunity. Businesses are made up of people, and people have struggles and fears as well as hopes and dreams.
When you dial up the emotion in your brand messages, you tap into needs and desires that drive decisions. It's a simple concept that many don't implement.
My professional organizer client helps businesspeople with messy home offices (niche). How do they feel about the mess? Embarrassed, overwhelmed and stressed.
Knowing she can help them achieve tidiness and organization is nice, but the power of a brand message is in describing how they'll feel in their new reality: calm, productive and even blissful.
Take a look at your website, audio logo and other marketing messages. Are you effectively sharing the emotional journey of your clients? Is it clear that you know their concerns and struggles and can deliver what they dream of experiencing?
Remember Craig? By narrowing his niche and focusing on one service line (his true specialty), he immediately felt less overwhelmed. A clear niche and specialty made it easy to find common emotional threads and dramatically improve his marketing messages. As a result he's signed three new engagements in the past two weeks and, for the first time ever, has a pipeline extending out several months.
To learn more about building your brand, join us this Thursday for "Branding for InfoGurus: Get found. Get known. Get clients!"
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The More Clients Bottom Line: To get attention for your business, you need to stand out. By zeroing in on your ideal target clients, highlighting your specialty and creating brand messages that touch the emotions, you'll get more and better responses from the kind of clients you want to work with.
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What are you doing to make sure your message stands out? Please share your answer on the More Clients Blog by clicking on the Comments link below.
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