Don't Just Aim for the Target Audience. Aim for the Bullseye.

From a participant in Becoming Unforgettable my online Personal Branding course:

Q: I have some questions, Greg, thank you! Something that hasn't been clear to me is who to aim [my brand] at—my clients so far have been individuals but I'm determined to take my leadership development to companies and organizations.

When I look at my bullseye, I can see lots of overlap between my best individual clients, and the type of person at a company I'd be working with. I think I'm solving different problems for these two clients.

-@jacquelinedelibes

A: I have yet to find any person or company with just one target audience. If the case does exist, it would be rare. Every person (or every organization) will want to appeal to multiple types of audiences be it customers, partners, vendors, investors, donors—it can be a long list.

One part of developing a powerful brand story is to focus your energy and focus your storytelling on one person. Literally, one person. Your bullseye target. Real or imagined, if you can conjure up that one person in your mind, you can empathize and relate to them in ways that you can't with a group of people.

If I were to have one-on-one conversations with each person in my range of audiences, I would tailor each message in the most perfect way for each one of them. I would make my story as relevant as possible to each person individually. One-to-one. But I'm not in the room having those conversations. So, I need to rely on other means to capture and attract attention to the work I do. 

So, I have a choice: 

1. Create "lowest common denominator" storytelling that bridges all target audiences. The benefit: I cast a wide net. The compromise: I water down the impact attempting to speak to everyone at once.

2. Pick one specific person (bullseye) that I really, really, really want to work with and create storytelling like we’re having a one-on-one conversation. The benefit: I am sharp and focused with my words. The compromise: I may miss opportunities with those out of range. 

If you want to create differentiation for yourself and tell a meaningful story to another human being, it's always option two. In the process (and somewhat paradoxically) your brand will likely make a mark with audiences outside of your bullseye persona. Why? Because your story avoids generics. It speaks specifically and powerfully with empathy and understanding for your bullseye, and how you create something special for them. And that “something special” is magnetic to more people than you might think.

Photo Credit: 15299 from Pixabay