In business you will hear a lot about “your target audience”… you may have been told to create an explicit profile and pinpoint your demographic precisely, so you can speak to them effectively in all your marketing materials and website. And that is certainly a worthwhile effort and part of the discovery process for any brand, but I am also here to remind you of your natural ability to influence and capture the hearts of your audience, simply by being you and who you are as a business.
Don’t believe me?
Here’s the thing—you already have your own unique brilliance, and it’s the very thing that sets your business apart from the sea of others, so what do you think is going to happen if you step out of that in order to focus on trying to say exactly what some artificial demographic wants to hear?
That’s right, you lose the thing that made you shine in the first place.
Not only that, but the notion that audiences are only attracted to what is most like them is completely bogus. Audiences are people, and people are attracted to all kinds of things, and very (VERY) often things that ARE NOT like them. Think about some of your favorite people, how many of them are “just like you”? And you still totally love them and look to them don’t you? Think about some of your favorite books, shows and movies… are they just like you? Or are you fascinated by their differences? Captivated by their strengths that maybe aren’t yours?
Yep. Opposites attract. Same’s attract. Attraction is everywhere, in all kinds of ways, and nobody has that science nailed… so stop trying to fit your round peg in square holes.
People spend their time and money on things that light them up, whether it’s a product or service, they are buying an EXPERIENCE. And what’s the most powerful experience you can deliver?? The one that you know best. Your speciality. That unique brilliance that you and your business have, in only the way that you have it.
As I’ve said before, businesses are made of people, and people are like fingerprints. No two are exactly alike. And no matter what they’re like, they’re drawn towards any number of same and opposite things.
So find out who your audience is, where they are, what they need and want, etc… but then use YOUR OWN VOICE to speak to them from where you are, through your website, marketing and social media outreach. There is absolutely no power in copy catting and trying to mold yourself into who or what you think people need you to be.
You are already valuable… as a person, and as a business. You already have what someone needs. But they aren’t going to see that if you’re too busy dressing your wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Nobody notices a wolf in sheep’s clothing—
but they damn sure notice a wolf.
😉