Who Do Your Target Prospects Admire?
What is the point asking: who do your target prospects admire? Hot pursuit of detailed answers to this question could be a waste of time. However, there are some advantages, so it is worth giving it some thought:
- It helps you build a detailed picture of your key prospects
- You can seek an endorsement from people they are likely to admire
- You can show you admire people similar to the ones your prospects admire. For example, you can use your blog.
Let’s take a closer look at some possible targets for admiration:
Brands
Consider established, well-known brands. You could place adverts on your site or include photos of you using a brand. This would be a sort of product placement and I’m not sure how far I would want to go. Perhaps a mention in a blog would be a possibility but take care not to overdo it. The important thing is, if you wish to associate yourself with a brand, your endorsement should be genuine. If you include it solely to impress your prospects, you are likely to be found out.
A casual mention of an established brand may be effective and not too pushy. If you are planning to feature it in a big way, it may be worth communicating with the brand owners. They may not wish to be associated with you! But if there is mutual benefit, you may be able to arrange some sort of affiliate deal or at least permission to use their logo.
However, personal brands are perhaps more important in local marketing and so it is worth exploring association with local brands and then work out how to feature them in your marketing.
Check out my post about Trustmarks for more about featuring brands. Featuring well-known clients or sources of qualifications can be fairly powerful.
Job Types
A medical practitioner might use images of nurses or doctors on their website, for example. Or simply dress like people in those professions. So long as such images are relevant they may reassure visitors to a website, shop, clinic or office.
Another approach is to challenge the idea of a job. Think of Kirosaya’s four categories: employed, self-employed, business owner and investor. In some circumstances, your prospects may admire one or more of these approaches to finding income. Certainly, if your offer is for business owners, you need to show you understand business ownership. The same applies to all four categories.
Individuals
You may be able to get an endorsement from someone your prospects admire. You would discuss this with the person and work out how best to feature them. They may for example, see this as an opportunity for mutual benefit.
You can show you admire particular people by, for example, blogging about them or about their work. This will be particularly effective if they are dead.
You would not have any problem featuring a dead person’s quotation. So long as you keep it short, you don’t have to ask a living person if you can use a quote. Obviously it must be attributed, or there would be little point. A sentence or two is all you need. Most people look at the name and may not read a long quote.
Remember, though there is a point where a quote might be a breach of copyright. Short quotations are never a problem so long as you attribute them.
If this has been helpful, let me know. What else would you like to know about this topic?