Your product might be for everyone. But you can’t market it that way: The key to product branding.

Trying to be for everyone is costing you.

In the early stages of business, it's safe to focus on general terminology and target audiences in your marketing. That way, it won’t feel like you’re pushing away potential customers. Well, unfortunately, that’s actually costing you sales. Women ages 30-50 is not a target customer. That could signal so many different personalities, and it’s people's personalities and behaviors that you really want to get specific with. When you try to connect to that many people, you actually just end up sounding… boring. Then, you become just another option, instead of THE option. 

When you try to target everyone, your words are vague. The algorithm doesn’t know who to push your content to, so you end up losing ad spend. This dilutes your brand when you should be building a community.

But here’s the kicker. Your product CAN serve a large audience. Take a toothbrush, for example. Everyone needs a toothbrush. But what if instead of the product's functions, which every toothbrush brand focuses on, you flipped the narrative? Instead, you sell a lifestyle. Maybe it’s color and design, and bold yet sleek. You show an image of a toothbrush paired with a lipstick, hairbrush, and makeup. Now, it’s an item people are proud to display. It’s more than the product; it’s the feeling of using it and seeing it.

So, while your product is working, your marketing needs to be speaking to one person. Connecting with a single mom who's transporting multiple kids to different sports sells better than “busy parent.” This builds a true, personable connection because the consumer will feel reassured knowing that you really understand their problems. 

Focus on finding the best audience. Not the biggest. And that person will share your product/experience/service with more people like them. Learn about their tastes, their aesthetic, and what matters most to them. Now you have a community. 

But how do you actually find and learn about your smallest viable market?

• Start with the problem. Not demographics

• What specific feelings does your consumer have?

• What are their behaviors?

• What is their personality like?

• What does their life look like at the point where you need to sell?

And now everything will be easier on your end, too. Your content becomes easier to write because you understand who you are talking to. The algorithm is doing its job. Your design knows who to sell to. You can position your visual language as a conversion tool.