Who’s Part of Your Brand Tribe?
Discover the 7 audiences that shape your brand tribe
When you’re forming your brand, you will have not one but 7 different types of audience to consider as part of your communication strategy.
Sure, they may all care about the same thing – let’s say, it’s AI or technology.
Each of them, however, will relate to your story and join your journey for different reasons that you should be mindful of as the Leader of your Brand Tribe.
Here’s a breakdown of the 7 groups and how to approach them.
1. Followers
The first group is arguably the biggest group of your brand tribe.
Followers are excited about your story and want to learn more about your journey.
While you may have a lot of followers (online or offline), they don’t necessarily translate into customers.
Followers, however, are extremely important for your brand’s success because they will likely bring more people to your business just by being part of your tribe and spreading the word about your existence.
2. Promoters
The second group of Promoters consists of both people who are “on the outside” and who are “on the inside”.
What does that mean?
Promoters might be people who love your brand because:
- They have a great impression of the brand image of your tribe, even though they have never officially interacted with you.
- They have had a great experience with you as previous / existing customers, partners, investors or team members.
Promoters find your work helpful and support your brand. They can be quite influential when it comes to bringing new followers, customers and investors to your tribe!
3. Leads
The third group is “on the outside” looking for a way “in”.
Leads relate to your approach and values and are actively considering spending their money to work and grow with you.
They are already past the point of being Followers and Promoters, which means they are much closer to the big milestone of becoming one of your Clients.
How can you lure them in?
Offering resources and engagement opportunities might be the most effective way to turn your leads into paying customers and move them one step further into your brand tribe network.
4. Clients
Clients have already crossed the monetary threshold of your tribe and because of it, they have unlocked increased benefits of being part of your community.
How well are you taking care of your clients? How do your benefits compare to the perks of your competitors? Why should your clients remain loyal to your brand tribe?
These are some of the questions to consider once you begin to attract more customers to ensure that you can offer them a long and memorable stay within your brand tribe.
Remember that your Clients make fantastic Promoters and they have the power to help you attract more of the 7 types of audiences:
- Followers
- Promoters
- Leads
- Customers
- Team Members
- Partners
- Investors
No group of people has such power as your customers, yet without the other 6 groups of audience — you don’t really have a brand tribe, but rather a series of 1-to-1 transactional interactions.
5. Team
Your team is responsible for a lot more than just reaching targets and getting the work done to accomplish your mission.
Remember that at the heart of every successful brand are people!
Your team is central to your success as your biggest brand ambassadors to those who are already “in” and those who are currently “out” looking for a way into your brand tribe.
If you’ve got an amazing mission, but you’re not taking care of your team, the wellbeing of your brand tribe will suffer as a consequence.
Similarly, if you’ve got amazing people on board, but you can’t find a way to break down your mission into achievable targets, you will not be able to have a huge impact in the world as one of many brands in today’s economy.
Inspiring your team and making sure that you’re fully aligned around a strategy that allows you to grow professionally and personally is crucial for your overall success.
6. Partners
As the Leader of your Brand Tribe, you might have already figured this out, but let me remind you of it nonetheless:
You cannot succeed alone.
Partners are the individuals and brands that come along your way to help you reach the next levels of progressing with your brand mission.
Partners are the people who have a similar vision for the future and they can be of assistance to you through offering their own experience and skills, so that you can co-create something of assistance to others.
Once trust is established, it’s important to maintain a good relationship with your partners. They, too, will be crucial for your success.
You can consider partners as your “external team” that will support your mission in a way that allows your internal team to collaborate within a larger community than is even more diverse, talented and reliable.
7. Investors
The final group that’s essential to your Brand Tribe — the Investors.
While Investors are not one of your primary groups at the start of mapping out your brand strategy, sooner or later they become integral for your success in your local community and even at a national level.
Once you begin to gain recognition and success, you will start to research more exposure opportunities, such as applying for grants and awards. This is when Investors will help you expand your brand presence and create more job opportunities as your workload increases, too.
If you’ve got a strong vision, clear strategy and amazing team, Investors will love you!
Get your brand strategy right and you won’t have to worry about impressing the Investors, since you’ll already be an impressive brand tribe.
Your Brand Tribe
No matter where you are on your entrepreneurial journey, sooner or later you’ll attract people from all 7 audiences that make up your brand tribe.
My advice to you will be to create a visual dashboard with everyone you know and where they fit today.
Are there individuals you’d like to move from followers to promoters, from leads to customers, or from promoters to investors?
Are there brands that you’d like to partner with or investors you’d like to contact, so that you can pitch your big bold ideas?
Are there people in your circle — or friends of friends — you admire for their skills that you’d like to work together to bring your vision to life?
Start with your existing network and then work your way into unfamiliar territories!
Life’s really short: you’ve heard it many times, but it’s worth repeating one more time. Go for it! Contact the people, share your ideas, get excited about your purpose and get others excited too.
The people who change the world are those who show up and do the work daily — be the Dreamer who believes in a mission so much that you inspire those around you to believe in that mission, too.
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