Brand Development Tip – Being Yourself Leads To Rapid Conversions

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It’s no big secret that one must target the right audience in order to increase the likelihood of conversions. However, what you may not know is that even if the audience you are currently targeting is converting fine for you, there is a way to inject your business with another targeting strategy to supercharge your efforts and boost conversions rapidly.

I read an article the other day by Michael Gilmour (How to get new customers). It was a nicely written piece using his new bird bath as the setting to teach new businesses how to find their target customers by moving the bird bath around the yard until he finally found a sweet spot that the birds couldn’t resist using the bird bath in. It was a wonderful read and I recommend anyone looking for tips on consumer targeting to read it.

Today, I would like to go even deeper down the rabbit hole and point out a few additional variables that new start-ups and existing businesses need to consider in order to take the existing strategy you found in your research to the next level.

Re-Targeting Your Existing Target Market

First, I want to point out that if your existing campaign targeting strategy is working, you should keep it. However, you should still diversify a little to increase the existing conversions.

What many people forget is that you aren’t just promoting your brand, you’re promoting yourself. As the founder, speaker, and promoter of your brand, your own personal image/personality plays a huge role in how well you’ll convert the consumers you’re targeting.

Personal Image/Branding Mistake

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is trying to change who they are in order to please a target audience they think is the one they are supposed to be going after. Not only does this make you feel uncomfortable every time you meet up with potential clients/customers in that audience, it can hinder your ability to communicate on the same level as the new appearance you’ve adopted to please them.

Never, ever, change who you are to please other people.

Be Yourself!

While I was at the NamesCon 2017 event in Las Vegas back in January and attending one of the after parties (I’m the one in the cowboy hat below), I was approached by two young ladies that said I looked like the most interesting person of the night (With a reference to the septum ring in my nose).

I gave them the same advice; “Don’t pretend to be someone you aren’t and don’t let what other people think about the real you ever get under your skin.”

Reality Check

Here’s the twist, sometimes, being yourself can prove to be an obstacle at first, which is probably why many people try to be someone different, thinking it will magically make their business convert better. While learning new techniques from successful businesses is a great way to achieve some of your conversion goals, you’re truly shooting yourself in the foot if you try to mirror their image/personality as your own.

You aren’t them, you don’t need to prove anything to them, and you don’t need to be uncomfortable all the time trying to be someone you are not. Just don’t do it!

The Obstacle Of Being Yourself

I’ll use myself as an example here. Take another look at the picture of me above. Now, with my image, personality, and lifestyle in mind, how well do you think I convert leads into clients? Some of you may say “Great”, or “Ok”, or “I wouldn’t do business with someone that looks like you”! It’s the 3rd answer that becomes everyone’s obstacle and motivation to try and be someone they are not. As soon as you do that, you’ve officially given up on yourself and your business can potentially suffer.

  • You may be thinking right now; wait a minute, “I need to target people with money for my product/service, which means I have to blend in with the white collar suit and tie crowd. Wrong! It means you are targeting the wrong consumer market in need of solutions.
  • I’m converting visitors/leads into sales, so I must be doing something right, right? Absolutely! I’m not trying to say that the strategies you use aren’t working. However, I am saying that you can always better your best and that your real personality, image, and lifestyle is one of your biggest assets, when embraced and targeted properly.

Let’s see what happens when you overcome the obstacle of being yourself.

Overcoming The Obstacle Of Being Yourself And Targeting The Right Consumers

I’ll keep this short and to the point. Regardless who you are or what your image, personality, and lifestyle is, you have to consider that not all consumers are motivated by the same things.

For example:

If you are promoting a product, let’s say it’s “Fresh ground coffee” in the coffee industry, your first choice would probably be the white collar tie crowd that rises early to rush into work and sit at a desk all day. Your second choice might be the blue collar 9 to 5er’s that need that extra jolt of caffeine before heading into a job they may hate each day.

You would be correct with both of those target audiences, however, you’re forgetting to take your personality, image, and lifestyle into account. As the founder/owner of your business, you need to inject a little of yourself into it so that it helps your product stand out from the rest of the look-a-likes.

If you’re like me and attract attention everywhere you go, you’re already your own walking billboard. With my hat, rings, septum pierced, black cowboy hat with spikes, and tattoo’s, I get a mix of reactions such as, but not limited to; Disgust, Fear, Distrust, Disbelief, Shock, Curiosity, Intrigue, and Appreciation when it’s someone that also embraces their own unique personality.

If you’re just starting out, brand it baby, brand it! Inject yourself into your business and then target the people that expressed Curiosity, Intrigue, and Appreciation. These are the consumers that are open to new things and can relate to you better. That means, better conversions!

If you’ve already branded your business, you may want to consider re-branding or re-targeting. Re-targeting may be the easiest if you’re a deeply established brand.

Note: If you are part of a large corporation with multiple departments and have someone in public relations (PR), you can task them with this project, encouraging them to be themselves or you can even outsource and hire a personality to reach new markets for you.

An example Of A Successful Personality

Ali Zandi, Founder of Starfire Holdings closed a $2 Million sale for Freedom.com. Ink and beards are obviously not an obstacle for him either. Learn more about his sale here and check out the awesome mug-shot of Ali below.

In Conclusion

Remember, if your current target audience is already converting, keep targeting them. This isn’t about replacing something that works, this is about adding a more unique, real, personalized, and honest targeting strategy to an existing campaign or starting a new one from scratch that will convert at much higher rates.

As you focus on being genuine, honest, and transparent in your business, your first two target audiences conversion rates will rise as well. The ones that never bought your coffee before will start to trust you and your brand more now that they see so many others buying from you and have great reviews.

What Have You Accomplished By Being Yourself?

  • You can now be comfortable in your own skin by not having to pretend anymore
  • Your comfort subconsciously translates into your communications, which increases sales
  • Your New target audience provides increased revenue converting at a higher rate
  • You now have multiple revenue generating campaigns running at the same time
  • If you’re just starting out, you now have an advantage over others in your industry that are still stuck trying to impress others by being someone they are not.

It’s my hopes that I was able to inspire someone today like Michael Gilmour inspired me.

Happy business building everyone!

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Eric Lyon

Entrepreneur, Freelancer, Domain Investor/Developer, Brand Designer, Brand Manager, Founder of Scorpion Agency™, Founder of OfficeDrift™, And A Father. Since 1996, Eric has managed companies with 240+ employees, online communities with over 1 million members, attended numerous industry related events/conventions and has personally worked with start-ups, personalities, small mom and pop businesses, corporations, freelancers, news outlets, and a variety of domain investors one-on-one from all over the world. That equates to a lot of years behind the scenes with his fingers firmly on the pulse of multiple industries. LinkedIn: Profile/Resume - FaceBook: Profile/Social