5 Reasons Why Your Brand May Be Repelling Your Ideal Client
1. Your business has outgrown the brand you started with.
Businesses are like children – truly! What worked for you when you launched or even a year or two ago might not be the right fit anymore. I see this time and time again especially with my interior design clients – their services and design style (and pricing!) refine and elevate to higher levels each year, but they’re still operating under the same brand they launched under. That’s a great reason to start thinking about the next era of your business and how you want potential clients to perceive you and your services (luxury or budget? full service or light refreshes?)
2. Your brand is based on your personal design preferences, not your ideal audience.
Sometimes new clients come to Kickoff Calls with me very excited to tell me about how much they love a particular color or font style. This is where I put on my creative consultant hat *beyond* my designer hat and gently push back. I ask – “How do you think your ideal client perceives your business based on your current brand, and how do you want that image to change?” That usually helps shift the conversation from “*I* like…” to “I think *they* will respond to…” – and that’s where the magic happens.
3. Your brand isn’t consistent or cohesive across your business’s touch points.
Consistency and cohesion equal clarity – for you *and* your audience. If your potential clients are getting different versions of your brand when they engage with you on different platforms (social vs. web vs. in person, etc.) then it’s difficult to establish recognizability and trust.
4. You’re embarrassed to direct potential clients to your website.
One of the main unexpected results our clients get from working with us is a deep-seated confidence in their brand – beyond the visuals. This makes you more excited to show up on social media, have fun advertising your business online or in person, or send people to your website rather than just your Instagram. Potential clients (especially in the luxury creative space) can feel your passion and excitement for what you do – and the opposite is also true.
5. You feel a bit of identity crisis around who you are and who you serve.
Just like a new brand identity often inspires a new sense of confidence in the business owners we serve, a new sense of internal clarity around your values as a business owner and your audience’s identity is game-changing. Brand messaging, an important part of our full service brand identity process, unites your team around a common set of messaging (mission statement, tagline, USP, etc.) AND has great impact on your understanding of who and what your business represents.
