When it comes to your business, every single decision you make will depend on your target market. That’s why it’s so important to know who you’re tailoring your branding towards. Not only will your target audience influence which icons or colours you use, but also how you choose to portray your company.
So to help you determine the type of design that will appeal to your target market, we’ve outlined three steps you can take during the decision-making process:
Branding for your target market: Who are they?
Think about the type of people you imagine buying your product or service. You may have an idea in terms of age, gender and location, but humans are complicated creatures and we can get offended when someone doesn’t take the time to get to know us. So once you’ve thought about your basic demographics, you need to do some research to find out what interests them, what kind of music they listen to, what products they use, where they work and so on. Gaining an understanding of these individuals will help you to create something they can relate to. To do this, you could carry out a survey, review industry publications or look at who your competitors are targeting. From here you can come up with some character profiles in order to define the direction you want to go with your branding. Giving your audience a persona is an effective way of helping you perceive your brand from their perspective.
Branding for your target market: Who are you?
Once you have a good understanding of who you’re appealing to, you need to have an even better understanding of who you are. When you reach this step, it’s helpful to remember that you can’t win them all. If you try to please everybody you could risk losing sight of what it is your business stands for. With that in mind, you might find it more beneficial to focus on a particular niche and cater to their wants and needs.
Branding for your target market: What’s your relationship?
It can be tempting to experiment with your branding – especially if you’re a creative type. But your focus should be on what your customer wants, because ultimately your business exists for them. It’s unlikely that a website that’s geared towards the construction industry will appeal to teenage girls and a female lifestyle blog won’t have the desired effect on a construction worker.
When it comes to implementing effective branding, having a good grasp on your target market is one of your greatest assets. Your design should make your customers feel a certain way, and in order to achieve that, you need to know what it is they respond to.
Gorilla help companies of all sizes build unstoppable brands, if you would like help or advice with your project then get in touch here
(Illustration by Matt Varker, Gorilla)
