Pssssst
You didn’t hear this from me but…
Word on the block, Sypress is a big advocater of the importance of establishing a style guide for a brand. She learned it’s a crucial step in reaching her target audience and building authority in her field. I mean… it makes sense. She’s all about authenticity and strategy, so looking back now it makes sense she thought a style manual was the perfect fit for her business. She seems really serious about this whole thing. And look where it’s getting her, I see her brand everywhere!
Who is the Target Audience?
So, I did something a little sneaky the other day and scanned through her school notes from week 2 of Intro to Content Strategy. There’s some serious gold in them and I’m here to spill the tea. It started with target audience research, like what they are and why identifying them is important. Like who doesn’t already know that a target audience is literally just the consumer group that would without a doubt want your product or service. The typical demographic indicators like age, sex, location etc.. Boring, I know but just stay with me for a second.
The girl used The Race by Tay-K as an example to help her understand why a target audience is important and helpful. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life! So for a little pop culture 101, in the song he openly talks about crimes he committed, how he did it, and what he’s up to now. This single, from the iconic album Santana World, was written while he was on the run; eventually tracked down by police and locked up. She compared her brand to Tay-K and the police as her target market. Tay-K provided valuable information and built authority within his field (gangbanging), even though the police were not his intended audience they are in his target market and teenage listeners are his target audience within said market.
That nonsensical analogy aside, the rest of her notes were facts. I’d have to agree that having a target audience is a big time and money saver. She’s a university student so we know she doesn’t have money like that. With a target in mind it would probably make it way easier for her to be precise in content creation, nurturing relationships, and growing her audience. It’s all about connecting and solving problems.
Pro Tip: Keep content tight! Use a minimum of 300 words for Google to be able to scan for those SEO keywords.
Now something about me is I live and breathe for a life hack so these jot notes really caught my eye. She heard Dee Thompson speak about her tips and tricks when it comes to brand strategy and blog posting. We’ve all heard this before and you’re about to hear it again: tracking interaction. Those analytics are a gold mine for audience information. Not in a creepy Elon Musk brain chip way, but more like what are they saving, sharing, and finding the most useful. It’s so validating to see that people are coming to your brand for help!
Who Am I and How Can I Help My Audience?
I’m not going to lie guys, she got kind of existential here. But in a fun way like she had an ego death, knows who she is, and wants to help and the spread love. I’m just going to copy and paste the highlights of her target audience identifiers for you because I’m a bit of a rambler and she got straight to the point here:
- My target audience’s goals: young women who want to start/grow their business
- Their tasks: establish their brand, then grow their audience, then become experts in their field
- practical advice and actionable steps that can help them accomplish these tasks. write about topics such as creating a brand identity, building a website, creating content, engaging with followers, and attending events
- How they feel: excited, motivated, curious, enthusiastic, proactive, novice, confused
- provide them with up-to-date and relevant information that can help them stay informed and ahead of the curve. write about current trends, news, events, and case studies that are relevant to their interests and needs
- When: they need help, planning stage, research, new tactics
- Their demographic: 19-25yo, female, entrepreneurs, students, single, dating, married, Canadian, BIPOC
- My colours:
- 60%: #F2E5C6 cream
- 30%: #F62AA0 hot pink
- 5%: #FFF9C3 yellow
- 5%: #A85E60 aubergine
- My TOV: friendly, funny, enthusiastic, respectful
Creating the Style Guide + The 3 C’s
Okay, now the fun part… style guides! It’s exactly what it sounds like so I’m not wasting our time outlining it. The interesting part she noted was what Ricqciolia Philip said partway through the interview: “[…]without a brand guideline the audience doesn’t know what I stand for.” This prompted what Sypress calls The 3 C’s. Consistency, clarity, and
collaboration. Apparently her consistency establishes a strong brand presence and builds long-term brand awareness. And get this…it helps her audience recognize and remember her brand, which leads to increased trust and loyalty. Sounds like some kind of secret weapon, right? But wait, there’s more. I also heard that this style guide thing provides clear guidelines for her brand’s visual and language elements. That way, the target audience can really understand her brand’s identity, values, and mission. And when they engage with the brand and connect with her message, it can leads to increased engagement and conversions. Crazy, right? And get this – this style guide thing also enables collaboration among her affiliates and contributors so they can work together effectively and efficiently. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a game-changer to me.
This is only the beginning guys, there’s so much more to cover over the next few weeks so I think I’m going to make this a series. I’m hooked and need to know how she does it. Her brand is so recognizable, and her audience is so well versed in brand development. The clear evidence of the use of a style guide and her obvious knowledge of target market is so genius. But keep it zipped and just remember if anyone asks, you didn’t hear this from me…
XOXO,
Bona Fide Barbie
Sources
- Ricqcolia Philip
- Dee Thomson
- https://www.braintraffic.com/insights/know-your-context
- https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8714-know-target-customer.html