Like Minds. Brand lesson #1: Focus

Last week saw the Like Minds Autumn 2010 conference take place in Exeter again. It was another great event. There was great debate, discussion and insight. Lots to take away. But I just want to share a few things that caught my attention. A few lessons that businesses can apply to their brand and brand strategy.

Brand lesson #1: Focus on your customers
In a busy environment focus can be a real challenge, and this was the point that stood out for me in the keynote presentation on Friday afternoon from Karren Brooks. She described the scenario of going into a meeting with a client, and the importance of being fully focused on what you need to achieve. But in that scenario you're competing with whatever else is going on in your clients head; the phone call they have just had, their next appointment, domestic issues... the list is endless.

If you look at virtually any business, they face exactly the same challenge: competing for their customers head-space. So how do you do it? In the final keynote on Friday, Robin Wight (@RobinWightUK), told us that, on average, we are bombarded by 3000 messages every day. With so much competition, how do you get your audience to listen to you?

Well, this is where 'focus' comes in. There are two things you need to focus on: Who are your audience? and What do they want to hear?

Who are your audience?
The answer to this isn't 'everyone' or 'anyone'. Or 'businesses' or 'consumers'. It should be a very specific description. If it's a business you might specify size, sector, turnover, location, age etc. For a consumer it might be age, gender, location, income, profession, the car they drive, the newspaper they read. The people you want to focus on are those that are most valuable to you. So take a look at your existing customers and figure out who they are.

What do they want to hear?
Now that you know who you want to talk to, you can work out what they want to hear. That last bit's important: What they want to hear. It's very different from: What you want to tell them. Your audience is only interested in services or products that will provide some benefit for them. Not benefit for other people - benefit for them. So you need to have a very clear understanding of what benefit your products or services provide. And they're not interested in what you do, just in how it benefits them. Your audience is very self-centred. Very focused. So you need to be too.

And the reason why? The more focused you are on who your audience are and what they want to hear, the more easily you will be able to sell to them. That should save you time and money, and give you a better return on your investment.

So, if you want to develop your focus, take a look at your brand. Brand is all about focus. Focus on your business, your audience and your relationship with them.

If you'd like to take a look at your brand, you might be interested in one of our free seminars.

So what works for you? What brand or company manages to get your attention? And how do they do it? Let me know, I'd be really interested to find out.