Whether you’re a creative entrepreneur, small business owner, or even a larger organization – the idea of getting daringly narrow with your brand positioning and marketing efforts can sometimes feel like boxing yourself in, painting yourself in a corner, and alienating potential customers (who can pay you) and help your business grow.
So today I want to share three simple brand exercises for narrowing in on your niche without freaking out.
Brand Exercise: Narrow in on your dream customer
It’s not uncommon for us to get pushback from our clients who are uncomfortable with narrowing in on their dream customer. They might say it’s because they don’t want to leave anyone out. But if we’re reading between the lines, we always sense an underlying fear of losing out on any customer willing to pay them. If money were no object, who would your dream customer be? What exactly would you offer them? Why do they need it – what problem are you solving for them?
If you’re having a hard time imagining who your dream customer is, think of a real person. Either a previous customer you’ve already worked with, a friend you know would benefit from your offering, or maybe even a character on a TV show you could imagine hiring you!
Brand Exercise: Experiment with getting specific in your content and promotional launches
One of the reasons narrowing in can feel so intimidating is because it means a lot of work for your entire brand. But you don’t need an entire rebrand to get daringly narrow. You can experiment with speaking to your dream customer in your content like blog posts, videos, podcasts, social media posts, and even sales campaigns targeting a specific segment of your audience.
For example, let’s say you love working with decisive women between the ages of 25-40 who are typically moms. Maybe you already have a Mother’s Day marketing initiative planned, but perhaps you want to get daringly narrow. What if you spoke directly to working moms? Or single moms? Or moms who have kids that are obsessed with fidget spinners?
These experiments will show you how getting niched with your offering and who you’re talking to (and how you’re talking to them) can increase engagement and your bottom line even to a seemingly smaller audience.
Brand Exercise: Show what you want more of in your portfolio and testimonials
Focusing your thoughts, intentions, and actions on what you want to happen is so much in the mainstream now that we’ve all heard the phrases “put what you want out into the universe” or “like attracts like.” But this law of attraction sentiment isn’t just for those who believe in metaphysics or magic. If your testimonials, portfolio, or case studies come from projects you’re proud of and dream customers you’d like more of – then you will naturally attract people who like your style and trust you to deliver.
When was the last time you asked your dream clients for testimonials or shared recent work, results, or success stories you loved? One of the easiest ways to narrow in is by focusing in on (and sharing!) what you want more of.
