5 WAYS TO CREATE (OR FIX) A BRAND MESSAGE THAT ATTRACTS YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
Are you attracting the WRONG type of clients to your business? If so, your brand message and your marketing might be broken.
Thankfully, there’s a simple way to fix it and start attracting your ideal, best-fit clients instead.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR BRAND MESSAGE (OR FIX IT)
Start by thinking of a current or previous client, or perhaps even a prospective client - someone you would love to work with.
With that person in mind, run through these 5 questions to determine whether ...
They’re right for your business
Your brand marketing is doing what it should to attract the right people
Ready? Let’s get into it.
QUESTION #1: WHAT IS THE SINGULAR PROBLEM YOU SOLVE?
This might sound a bit obvious but are you falling into the trap of trying to solve too many problems at once?
Being a “can do anything” person might feel like a good idea but in fact, it dilutes your brand.
And it also means you're likely ...
working all the time
trying to solve different problems
not working in your zone of genius
scattering yourself too thinly
not enjoying what you do
and not making enough profit because you do too many things
Examples:
Let’s say you’re a nutrition coach/nutritionist in the health and wellness space. You help people balance their hormones and get back into optimal health
Now, if you also try to solve every other problem they may have in their life, wellness, and health - that means you keep moving away from your core offer.
You’re scattered and you’re not attracting the right people because your message is not singular and clear enough.
It will be the same if you are a copywriter. You help people write amazing Bios or About pages. But maybe you still help out when people ask you to write something for a real estate brochure, which is not your target market.
Your Action Item: Identify one singular problem you can solve that your ideal client has - and stick to it.
QUESTION #2: ARE THEY WILLING TO INVEST TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM?
This one is super important! If you come up against people who are not willing to invest to solve their problem, again there might be a problem with your brand message.
Examples:
You might be a service-based business. Maybe you’re an interior designer, architect, yoga instructor, kinesiologist, or that same copywriter.
If you’ve identified a person with a problem you can solve but they’re not willing to invest to solve that problem, there are a couple of ways your brand message might be the stumbling block.
Their problem isn’t painful enough
As humans, we're more motivated to move away from pain than we are towards pleasure. So when something is really painful for us, that’s when we’re very motivated to do something about it.
So if your audience isn’t willing to invest, the problem isn’t painful enough. Keep digging deeper on that until you find something that’s going to motivate them to solve their problem.
Your brand message and marketing is not articulating your value and ability to solve their problem
If your audience is unsure you're the right person to solve their problem, then your brand message and marketing is broken. You're not going to get those people in the door.
Your Action Item: Make sure your message clearly articulates the painful problem you can solve.
QUESTION #3: ARE YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS ACTION TAKERS?
Do your clients get results from the work they do with you because they take action? Or is all the work on you?
Let’s say you’re in weight loss, nutrition, or really any kind of service-based business.
If your client is not willing to do what it takes to get the results and they’re just never going to take action, they are not an ideal client.
So, again - you need to look at your message and your marketing. Are you targeting people who aren't willing to put in the work?
Your goal is to attract people who will do the work to get the results.
Your Action Item: Design your messaging to attract clients who will do what it takes to get the result you provide.
QUESTION #4: DO YOUR CLIENTS BUILD WILDFIRE WORD-OF-MOUTH FOR YOUR BRAND AND BUSINESS?
When you work with people and get them results by solving their problem, they will go out and refer other people to you.
This is how your business grows organically (in addition to other ways). The BEST clients are always the ones who come to us through referrals.
So are you creating a result that inspires this wildfire kind of word-of-mouth? And do you have a strategy in place to get referrals?
Your Action Item: Develop an environment that inspires wildfire word-of-mouth (and create a referral strategy).
QUESTION #5: DO YOU ENJOY WORKING WITH THEM?
The very last one is, do you enjoy working with them?
You might think, “Well, yes, of course, Nikki.” But we’ve all had clients we don't like working with. Everyone has, along the way.
And I would bet usually within the first 15 minutes of having a meeting or call with them, you know they’re going to be the painful client. Because they …
don't want to take responsibility for their actions
show up late
don’t review things on time
want to blame somebody else for lack of results
So again, your message and marketing need to be really strong so you attract people you will enjoy working with.
You want to get on the phone with them or start working with them and feel like they are the kind of person you’d actually be friends with.
That’s how you develop a wonderful environment that creates all those other things like word-of-mouth referrals.
Your Action Item: Ensure your brand message attracts people you love to work with.
5 SIMPLE WAYS TO CREATE (OR FIX) YOUR BRAND MESSAGE
So, just to recap, these are the 5 things you need to do to create a brand message that will attract your truly ideal clients and customers.
Identify one singular problem you can solve that your ideal client has.
Make sure your message clearly articulates the painful problem you can solve.
Design your message to attract clients who will do what it takes to get the result you can provide.
Develop an environment that encourages referrals.
Attract clients you love to work with.
These 5 questions are the exact filters I use to work with people. By using these questions, you can now assess some of your clients, prospects, and leads to see if your brand and message is hitting the mark - or if it still needs work.
Want to create a powerful brand statement that connects with your audience and positions you as the only option? Grab my Magnetic Brand Bio template below. It’s free!