Who are your ideal customers? The more you understand and know them, the more you’ll be able to align your services to attract them, leading to more success in your business.
When we’re just getting started, the goal is to produce revenue, usually as quickly as possible. You need to pay the bills, so if the client can pay, you take ‘em on.
And then, after a little while, you see that this mentality isn’t necessarily helping you build the business you want. You realize that you’re ready to start shifting from ‘saying yes to everyone’ to wanting to be more intentional about who you work with.
While changing that mindset is a great first step, the next part is taking action towards bringing in those ideal clients. This can bring up a lot of unknowns, so today I want to chat about five strategies that you can implement to align your business towards attracting more of your ideal customers.
In This Article
>> But first, be clear on your ideal client profile
>> Utilize your website copy
>> Lean into strategic partnerships
>> Be intentional about your portfolio/past work
>> Ditch the services that aren’t aligned
>> Be mindful about where you’re showing up
>> Rather watch than read?
>> Additional brand resources.
But first, be clear on your ideal client profile
Before you start actually attracting those types of clients and customers, the first step is putting the stake in the ground and getting clear on who they are; building out that ideal client profile.
This is the stage where a lot of us get hung up. We hold back from going after who we’re really wanting to work with and thus, hold back from building a business that we truly love and enjoy.
What we forget is that the potential client also has the right to find someone they love. It’s a two-way relationship.
Think about it from their perspective – shouldn’t they make a selection on who they want to hire from a place of ‘HELL YES’ rather than ‘Well, I guess she’ll do because I might not find anyone else’?
A great client relationship starts when both parties are excited about the project. When both parties see the value in working together. When both parties are able to contribute their best work. When both parties are clear on what they’re looking for.
So, before you start updating your marketing strategies, define what that ideal client profile looks like. Who is aligned with what you’re offering? Who do you get great results for? What does success mean for them?
By understanding your answers to these questions, it’ll make attracting those perfect-fit-customers so much easier.
Utilize your website copy
First, I want you to think about your own user habits and behavior when you’re exploring a new website. Isn’t it great when you read something that just resonates so well, it’s like the person knows YOU?
When we first get started, our goal is revenue and from a website perspective, this looks a lot like generalizing the work we do. Our content tends to lean more towards vague because we just don’t know; we don’t have the experience or language to draw from.
But once you get clarity on who your ideal client is and who you want to be attracting, updating your website copy can have such a big impact on connecting with your right people.
Is it a quick change? No, not necessarily. But can it have a big result? Yes, absolutely.
Your website is your business’s home base and when it’s strategically and intentionally created, it will support your business and connect with your right audience.
If you’re not sure where to start, try talking specifically to your ideal client’s pain points, struggles and challenges. Also, highlight why your service, product or program is specifically designed to help them achieve the success they’re after. Hint: this comes back to your brand’s strategy – make sure it’s clear who you’re for, what you’re offering, why it matters and how you want people to feel.
Lean into strategic partnerships
When you understand who you’re really talking to, who your ideal client is, you can then start looking to other, adjacent businesses to find potential clients and support each other.
My husband, Brett, recently started a land management business and we were brainstorming potential partners that he could reach out to – realtors came up right away.
The idea is to think about what the ideal client needs right before, right after or during your work together. In Brett’s case, a realtor comes into play right before someone would need his services – the realtor sells them a piece of property and then they need some help with various maintenance tasks, so they may ask said realtor for recommendations. On the flip side, Brett works with property owners and if a client wants to buy more land, he’ll have a few recommendations because he’s made those connections already.
Strategic partnerships is all about leaning into business owners who serve a similar audience and adopting a serve-first mentality.
You both want to serve to the best of your ability and realize that in order to most help the client, you can understand their entire customer journey and fill in the gaps where your services aren’t a good fit.
As another example, WCO doesn’t offer social media management, so I’ve intentionally sought out social media manager to recommend to clients after we get done working together. On the flip side, business coaches are a great funnel into our work; oftentimes a coach will start working with a client and they come to the realization that a rebrand is their next right step – WCO is then a recommendation that the coach can offer.
Last note on this: Be genuine and good. Approach the relationship from a serve-first mentality. It’s not about exploiting the other business to get more customers, but rather to get to know them and intentionally approach the partnership from a place of service.
Be intentional about your portfolio/past work
Most service based businesses will somehow showcase their past work. In the beginning, you generally show off anything and everything because you want to reassure the potential client that yes, you have done something.
But then there comes a time when you start getting more work that’s aligned with your goals. However, we don’t always think about updating our portfolio or gallery to match this new direction.
Think about your portfolio as the filter for only displaying the work that really lights you up, rather than showcase everything you’re capable of doing.
By intentionally showing off the work that you really enjoy and want more of, you’re signaling to potential clients where your zone of genius is.
Ditch the services that aren’t aligned
In line with this idea of filtering your portfolio, you may even think about entirely removing those services that aren’t in alignment with your ideal client profile.
When WCO was making the transition from digital marketing support to brand support, I would catch myself scrolling through FB groups, responding to requests for Pinterest management or email marketing management. I wanted the work, was capable of doing the work, so what harm would it cause? Well, I finally realized that until I let go of those services and fully stepped into branding, I would always default to the ‘easy’ sell because that’s what was comfortable. I finally had to make the conscious decision to remove them entirely from my service offerings and then utilized strategic partners to hand off the work that wasn’t aligned with this new direction and ideal client.
Be mindful about where you’re showing up
In the beginning stages of business, the main goal is brand awareness – get in front of as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. You show up anywhere and everywhere, in the hopes that you’ll start to build a following and generate leads, just by sheer volume.
And then, when you start to hone in your ideal client and who you’re really a great fit for, you realize that it’s not necessarily advantageous to be everywhere. Yes, TikTok is where ‘everyone’ seems to be hanging out but is that really the best use of your time? And, is that where your ideal client is?
If you’re not sure where that right-for-you place is, ask. Starting collecting information about how potential clients are learning about you; something as simple as ‘how did you hear about us?’ on your inquiry form is a great start.
Lastly, it’s also worth thinking about paid memberships. Often when we talk about ‘where to show up’, we immediately jump to social media. But paid memberships and groups are also worth looking into. I’ve found that paid memberships lend a little more engagement because everyone is investing to be there; there’s a level playing field and an understanding that being a member is an intentional decision, rather than a passive one that can happen with a free group.
Getting clarity on your ideal client is a big hurdle, I know. However, it’s only the first part of attracting the right people. The next step is action which can be even scarier than calling out the right-fit-for-you-client.
But just remember that the point of action is to get you closer to building your version of success. Whether that’s a teeny, tiny step forward or a giant leap – forward movement is forward movement.
With that, happy branding 🙂
All my best,
Rather watch than read?
Need additional branding resources?
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