The number one thing all people in business want is… more customers! And that makes sense, of course. But we should also articulate that we all want to be attracting ideal customers, not just any customer, because your ideal customers are a lot more likely to convert. So, how can you attract more of your ideal customers? It comes down to three things: the Know, Like and Trust factors.
Building your business and brand to include these things will create relationships with your potential customers, and those relationships will eventually lead to sales and loyalty. The time between building the relationship and making a sale will differ from business to business and depends on a number of factors. For example, if your product or service is an essential item, a time-bound purchase (i.e. for customers at a specific phase or point in their lives) or a low-cost purchase, you’ll find the time between relationship-building and sales will be shorter.
The Know Factor
The Know factor is developed through showing up genuinely and consistently. Whatever platform you choose to focus on – whether it’s a social media platform, your website, speaking events, or anything else – the key is to be consistent and genuine.
The “genuine-ness” comes from being clear on your brand personality, tonality, language and visuals and ensuring your unique advantage shines through. (More on this in the Like Factor section). The reason this is important in creating the Know Factor is because in order for someone to feel like they know you, they should be able to describe you, to recognize your content and to expect a certain type of engagement with you.
And all that is rooted in your brand and your unique advantage. When you have those identified and embedded within your content and engagement, your customers will inherently feel like they know you, which creates a bond and a feeling of security.
The security element gives your ideal customer a sense of stability, of knowing what to expect. This is core to developing a deep connection with them – a pre-requisite for a loyal following and long-term sales.
The Like Factor
The Like factor is rooted in connecting with your ideal customer. This factor is based on similarities between you and the person you want to attract. So the key here is to identify your differentiating factors – the things that make your brand and your business unique – and highlighting those regularly in your content.
People tend to like people who are either like them or aspirational to them. And if you can get a bit of both in your brand and business, you’ll be golden!
So in order to develop the Like Factor with your audience so that you can extract your ideal customers from them, you need to showcase your (or your brand’s) personality traits. If you are a service provider, your individual personality will be your brand’s personality. But if you have a partner, then you should develop a brand personality that feels true to the both of you. Similarly, if you have a product business, you can either leverage your personality and inject that into your brand, or you can create a slightly different personality for your brand.
The key here is to know exactly what your brand’s personality is, and to know what makes it stand out. A brand that is just like other brands in the industry won’t stand out. And ultimately if you don’t stand out, you’ll find it very difficult to attract customers that are right for you and your business.
The Trust Factor
The Trust factor arises from your knowledge and your experience. It is built through your audience seeing you as a figure of authority in your area or as an expert in your field. If you are a product-based business, your ability to showcase the quality, history and depth of your brand will play a big part in the Trust factor.
To increase your Trust factor, use testimonials, cast studies and customer feedback. It is recommended that you share these once a week, to keep a steady flow and reminder of your Trust factor.
Pre-planning will make a big difference here. Actively ask customers for their feedback and testimonials. Incorporate this into your customer journey, asking for a testimonial shortly after receiving the product or completing the service you offered. That way, you’ll create a steady stream of testimonials and feedback, and you can develop case studies on a select few customers if that makes sense for your business.
All three factors have one thing in common…
You’ll probably have noticed that all three factors – the Know, Like and Trust factors – have a a common thread running through them.
Your uniqueness. Your competitive advantage. Your unique proposition.
When done right, these will shine through each one of the factors and create a brand and business that stands out. This will then attract the right customers – your ideal customers – to it.
Customers who do not resonate with your unique advantage will not stick around, and that’s a good thing. It means lower costs for you because you won’t be trying to convert customers who likely will never buy from you.
And it means the people who stick around will do so because they resonate with you, your brand and your business. And those are the people you want. They are your ideal customers.
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