Not understanding your audience

Following up on our previous post about specializing and finding your niche, when designers take on what ever comes in the door, the learning curve is steep. To do a good job, you need to spend time … often a lot of time … learning about your new client’s industry, target market and competition. Without a keen knowledge of what’s what, design is in danger of eroding into simple decoration.

When you have a niche, you learn all you can about the industry, the major players, common challenges, what’s working and what’s not and more. That helps you to be a better designer, but also to become a valued resource for your clients. You can anticipate potential problems and offer up solutions (read: you begin to generate project ideas instead of waiting for your client to call).

Plus, demonstrating a sharp knowledge about a prospect’s industry will gain respect and help you develop potent, on-target proposals that close deals.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt