Are you ready to become a branding time traveler?

 

Here’s what you do:

 

Step One: Close your eyes.

 

Step Two: Imagine a time ahead of now when your business is thriving and customers are buying.

 

Step Three: Reverse engineer how you got those customers. 

 

Step Four: Clean the time machine thoroughly.

 

Future demographics are all about envisioning your ideal customer when your brand is at its peak. Too many fledgling entrepreneurs are just wishing for customers when they should be planning for them. 

 

Who are they and what do they do?

 

It’s important to have a very clear picture of who your ideal customer is. You will have a variety of people interested in your product, but narrowing down the EXACT perfect customer takes a significant amount of consideration. 

 

Get started by asking yourself some questions about your future customers:

 

• Are men, women, or both going to be drawn to your products?
• How old are they?
• What sort of income do they earn?
• What are their cultural backgrounds and beliefs?
• What sort of education do they have?
• Where do they live?
• Who lives with them? 
• Are they parents?
• What do they read/watch?
• Who are their idols?
• How do they spend their downtime?
• What worries them?
• What makes their life more difficult?
• How can their lives be made better?
• Why does your product make sense for them?

 

Write it down. Do a vision board. Keep the image of your future customer in mind. 

 

There is certainly going to be early opportunities to grab customers. Your friends and family will be your first customers. Bargain hunters may be your second. But none of these quick wins are your top people. We all like to see a business running, but if you start your brand focused on who your ultimate customer is, you’re likely to find them much sooner. 

 

How should you talk to them?

 

Figuring out who your audience is by asking some questions about their life and their general demographics should reveal insight that helps you plan your content. 

 

When you ask yourself “How do they spend their downtime?” and the answer in your mind is: Instagram, Pinterest, and reading personal growth books, well you certainly have an answer about what platforms you should consider.

 

But there is a lot more to extract when you answer those questions. And the first place you start is: What makes their life difficult?

 

Your job as a content creator and business owner is to solve your customers’ problems. Or in this case, their future problems. 

 

• Do they not have enough time?
• Are they stressed out about money?
• Is there a simple solution to a daily struggle?

 

Your job is to initiate your content by addressing your future customers’ deepest concerns. 

 

But these aren’t your only tools once you know who your people are. If you know this person has kids, works a full-time job, and is a woman in her thirties, that gives you a very specific human to address. On the flip side, if your target customer is male, single, and in their twenties, you’re having a different conversation and framing your voice, your aesthetics, and your approach in a totally different way.

 

The point is, when you know who you’re talking to, it’s a lot easier to speak directly to them. 

 

How can you build steps that lead them to you?

 

Now, you’re not going to be able to just write blog posts for a month and then have a flood of customers. What you’re doing is anticipating the future needs of your future customers with the expectation that at some point they will be seeking answers that you have already provided. 

 

It sometimes feels too easy… and in concept, it is. The struggle comes from the pursuit of a “future” person. Entrepreneurs grow tired of waiting for the future. And they either give up or grab at something a little easier, but that doesn’t lead you to where you want to go.

 

Knowing your ideal customer allows you to build steps to reach them. The first step is talking directly to them through your platforms. The second step is getting around the people they already hang out with (i.e. PR). And the third step is offering something that improves their lives that they simply can’t resist.

 

Knowing who these buyers-to-be are allows you to lay the bricks for the steps that will lead them to you.

 

How does this inspire loyalty?

Predicting the needs of your customers makes a lot of sense in terms of leading them to you, but how does it breed loyalty?

 

Well, when you design an entire brand around the wants, needs, and natural habits of the people you want to attract, what you’ve done is create a haven.

 

People will feel like they are coming home because you built the space specifically for them. 

 

As with our actual homes, spaces that are safe, comfortable, and adapted to our needs are always places we’ll return. And in truth, are often places we never want to leave.