How to Attract Your Dream Clients Through Branding
Go back to when you first dreamed of your new business – who did you picture serving? Who was across the table from you or on the other side of the phone? Who’s the person or the company in mind that makes you think, I want to work with them. That’s your ideal client.
You don’t just have to put them on your vision board or wish that they’ll one day notice you. Using intentional design strategy and purposeful design elements, you can strategically attract your ideal client and other clients in the same market.
Here are three tangible tips that you can do today to begin attracting your ideal client with proper branding:
Determine your brand values
Brand values are the foundation of your brand, and they determine the framework that the rest of your brand is set upon. If you don’t know your brand’s values, your ideal client won’t either.
This first step is imperative to the rest of the process. Think through and write down your answers to these questions:
Why did you start?
How do you want other people to talk about your business when you’re not in the room?
What does your customer expect of you?
Who is your target audience?
What makes you special?
Where are you headed?
Create a feeling
Now that your brand values have been established, the next step is to make your customers feel something. Do you want them to feel empowered? Inspired? Cared for? Respected?
In my business, for example, I want my clients to feel respected. I design brands for business owners, and I know at the core of my business, my clients are trying to bring their vision for their business to life. I want my client to feel like the expert in their industry every step of the way, so I’ve intentionally created a process that involves them and makes them feel heard.
Maybe if you work in finance, you started your business because you were tired of other financial advisors using fancy lingo that no one else understands. Maybe you want your clients to feel empowered when they leave a meeting with you, not feeling silly and overwhelmed, but empowered that they can tackle their finances with your help.
How do you do this tangibly? Design strategy has more power than you probably notice. Something as simple as a typeface can evoke a feeling of friendliness and comfortability, or sophistication and luxury. Your color palette also plays an integral role in evoking a feeling and attracting your ideal client, and helping them create a connection in their mind before they even meet with you.
Consistency
Now that you’ve determined your brand values and you’ve begun to create a feeling for your ideal client, next is consistency.
Consistency is what transforms average into excellence. Your brand should be apparent in everything you do, whether online or offline. This includes visual elements like your typeface and color palette, but also in the language that you use and the feeling that you create for your customers.
If your goal is to make your customers feel empowered, pay attention to the words that you’re using in your social media posts and throughout your website and in your calls to action. Are they making you seem like the expert, or making them feel more confident in their abilities when they’re partnering with you?
Don’t let your branding hold you back from attracting your ideal client. Doing the work up front to determine your brand’s values, creating a feeling through intentional design strategy, and showing up consistently with all of your brand elements in place, you’ll feel more confident in your brand and in your direction, and your ideal clients will want to follow.
