The marketing napkin: your ideal customer and your branding

Hello and welcome back to the second episode of „The marketing napkin“. If you want to know why it is called like this head over to this post: I invite you on a marketing date. 

Last week we defined our ideal customer. Now it is time to see what influence the image of our ideal customer has on our branding.

As spring has just arrived we should sit in the afternoon sun on a terrace with our sunglasses on under a warm blanket and order a glass of Pinot Grigio.

 This point in our marketing process is a very important one. Now we will see if your ideal customer that you created earlier is REALLY your ideal customer or if we were just on the wrong path. 

Go back to the image of your ideal client. When she comes to your website, what kind of branding would she be attracted to? What does she want to read on your website? What kind of blogposts would catch her interest? What kind of blogposts would bring her come back to your site EVERY day? What kind of images would she love to see to know you are her perfect wedding photographer?

Your ideal customer should have an ideal customer experience on your website. And you brand should naturally appeal to your target client.

Let’s go back to our example from last week: When Ina comes to Ellen’s website she wants to see images of outside ceremonies. The website she would be attracted to would have a bohemian feel. Maybe with a green calligraphy logo (appealing to the vegan aspect) and a soft hand drawn flower pattern on a white background in the back of the website (referring to her hand crafting skills and her love for nature). On Ellen’s blog besides weddings she might like to see vegan recipes or travel images from Ellen’s trip to Scandinavia (remember Ina and Tom have a caravan to travel through Europe). She might like to read a guest post from a florist who explains how you can create creative centerpieces for your home with garden flowers (remember Ina’s love for her garden). The more we think about what Ina is attracted to, the more we know how Ellen’s website and branding should look like to attract her target client.

But now comes the crux: What if you just created the image of your ideal customer and now you have a look at how she would like to see your branding and website and you just cannot identify with the branding and the posts that would attract her? Well, I am sorry, then you should move one step backwards and think about your ideal client again.

What happens often is that we want to create an ideal client in our mind that seems like a person who has great style and the money that can pay everything she wants. But just at this point in the process we will figure out if this image of a client is somebody we would like to work with as a person and if we can identify with her. And often this is the point where we need to recreate that image of our ideal client.

Just, if your ideal client would love everything about your branding and website you have created a successful brand. And just, if you like everything about that branding and your website you have created a successful ideal customer.

Your brand should authentically represent what makes you different from others. 

This is the reason why we all have different ideal customers and different branding. And why copying some else’s branding would never work.

Take your napkin and draw a line in the middle. On the left side answer the questions above like: What kind of branding would she be attracted to? And on the right side of that line write what kind of branding and look you want your website and business to have. Does it match? If you get enthusiastic about the answers on the left side and they are just the same as on the right side of your napkin and you cannot wait to work on your branding, posts and look… my friend then you are on the right path to create a website that is truly and authentically you, is YOUnique and will attract your ideal client. 

Do you have any questions or comments, just post them in the comments below.

I am looking forward to answer them.