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Date:
October 18, 2021

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Hey! Ashlyn here, OG copywriter for creatives—reporting for duty. 

Let's get you a message so tight you can bounce a quarter off of it. Around here, we serve up science-based storytelling strategies the creative set.  Even while raking in more than 1.26M in agency work since I've been at it, I firmly believe working from a place of rest (not hustle) IS possible—and I want the same for you. Words matter. Best be sure they work (and oui, with math) ... and know how to party while they're at it. 

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Reading time: 11 min.

Confused about how to organize your website when you have multiple audiences in your business?? Oh boy, have I been there! 🙋🙋

You probably know this, no browser is going to convert into a buyer if they’re confused—confused people don’t buy. You know that the goal of your website copy your brand messaging and all of the marketing you’re putting out there is to eliminate any confusion or sticking points and help your customers and your clients understand that you are the one they should wanna work with.

That’s all fine and dandy but runs into a little bit of a snag if you have TWO distinct target audiences that you are trying to market to. 

Branding with multiple audiences | Ashlyn Writes

That’s why today we are walking through what to say and how to organize your website if you have two businesses under one roof, multiple audiences. Or at least you’ve got two ideal dream clients and customer types that you’re trying to appeal to with what it is you do.

I experienced this for years when I had calligraphy and copywriting under one roof. (More on that later.) We’ve had clients work through this with multiple audiences. But specifically, I thought about doing this because we have so many students inside Copywriting for Creatives, my signature program, that bring this question up. And so I thought, you know what? I’m just gonna make a video about it, ’cause it’s a good question. 

Let’s get into this! 

google docs copy template freebie


No. 1| Figure out the WHY & the WHAT for Offer #1

For this training, I’m doing a little mix of over the shoulder, like plotting on a piece of paper in a sec. But I wanna explain the why behind the steps.

So this first step, here’s what we’re doing. I want you to figure out the WHAT they’re buying and the WHY they’re buying for one side of your business or one target audience. So, we’re just zooming in on ONE thing right here.

I’m also starting out with the understanding that you know copywriting is vitally important for the life of your small business. I’ve done so many videos on that, but let’s hone it in on this side. Because I’ve said before in trainings that everybody, no matter what we’re buying and what we’re selling, we’re all buying or selling people a better version of themselves. Even when I’m at the grocery store and I’m trying to decide what brand of chips I want, I’m buying a better version of myself with whatever decision I make.

Related: What is Copywriting and Why Does it Matter for My Creative Small Business?

 

 

 So, I want you to think about that for this offer. 

What is the result people are buying from purchasing from your shop or purchasing your one-on-one services?

 Focus on the benefits here, not so much the features. Sometimes I think benefits get all the wrap, which is great, but the features do matter. 

One more PSA — If you are an artist or a maker or creator, or you’re the type of person that thinks, “Ashlyn, I don’t solve a problem. What I’m doing isn’t curing cancer or really providing that much value to people. It’s just artistry.” I get it. That’s why I’m using this example because I did calligraphy for a decade and sold it to couples. You don’t need calligraphy to get married, so here you go. Let’s break this down.

I’m trying to show the two split sides. This is a little brainstorm exercise.

multiple audience messaging exercise

The first thing I want you to see is, if we’re talking about the calligraphy side, this is the style. We got it. So, this is what we’re selling and I got specific here. That’s what I want you to do. I did a little brainstorm of what they’re actually buying, custom, done for you, physical writing services. What it’s for, typically, a once-in-a-lifetime event. You’re getting full in-house work here. They’re getting everything from edge painting to reception work, velum, seals, stamp, curation, all that kind of stuff. 

Then, I wrote down some reasons of WHY this may matter to the customer, to the buyer. Now, all of this you’re gonna get from all of that client and customer voice hacking that you are doing. I talked about that in a recent video. But that’s gonna be the first part of the brainstorm. Just doing one side of the business, thinking about the what and the why.

So yes, my CFC students and alum, you know your onlyness factor. Your onlyness factor goes into this, too. I want you to write that down for this piece that we’re looking at in your business. After we’ve done one side, you guessed it—step two in this process is to zoom around, flip the pendulum a little bit. We’re gonna look at the other side of your business, the other target audience that you’re working to market to with what you do. And we’re gonna create this same sort of list for them.


No. 2| Figure out the WHY & the WHAT for Offer #2

I hope that this exercise is letting the light bulb turn on for you about how much it takes to market to multiple audiences. This is why niching is soooo important, or at least it’s gonna accelerate your success.

I love this quote from Maria Brophy. She says some artists say they don’t want to niche because they like creating a variety of themes and mediums and markets. I get it, you don’t wanna be restricted. But, if you wanna sell your work to a high volume, you’ve got to choose a niche to focus on when you’re marketing your art. Focus is necessary if you want to make a living through your work. It’s gonna be tough to be lucrative if you do everything. I’ve done videos before on niching but I believe this so firmly. 

Maria Brophy quote

Related:The 4 Steps you need to know to choose a niche for your creative business

It’s also very difficult to refer people to you if I don’t know what you do, or if you’re a jack of all trades. This is why the name of this video wasn’t if you have three target markets, because that’s a lot. That’s too many, at least when you’re getting going. Sunny Lenarduzzi, I heard her say, “Niche down to blow up.” And I think that is absolutely true.

Let’s do the other side now. 

multiple audience messaging exercise

So, I’m talking about the sales copywriting services here. I’m specifically talking more bottom-of-funnel-type sales writing. I wrote a little bit of what they’re buying with these services. Again, like I said, not the extended parts of the funnel but really that bottom of funnel work. I’m gonna write some of the reasons why. Again, I would pull some of this from client customer voice hacking. This is just an example of brainstorm for you. But, I’m gonna fill out both of these sides, so I’m really splitting my brain. 

I’m not trying to, while I make each list, begin to make those correlations between the multiple audiences. I can worry about connecting the two audiences later. 


No. 3| Conduct the Umbrella Strategy Exercise

What we’re gonna do now is what I’m calling the Umbrella Strategy. We’re going to do the Umbrella Strategy and see if we can land on at least three messages that we want to try.

At this point, you’ve got those two lists on one sheet of paper on either side. And maybe you wanna draw a little umbrella in the middle. Now, we want to see what parallels and what could go under the same messaging umbrella. The easiest way for me to do this is to draw lines and write notes along the way. 

What connection points do you see between these lists of things that people want and they desire and they’re looking to have achieved by working with you or purchasing from you? **Side note, for a little while it may be possible to have one side of the business propel the other one. I’ll talk more in a minute about that. **

Yes, I drew an umbrella. My mom was a teacher. 😉 This is what you get. What I want you to see here is if we try, and remember, this is a brainstorming exercise—it might not work—we’re just trying to test a hypothesis here and see if they could even fit under one business or if it needs to be split. 

multiple audience messaging exercise

It’s not my favorite thing to communicate between multiple audiences or two businesses under one roof. But like I said, if you’re starting out, you’re trying to figure things out, sometimes there’s a time and a place for it. That said, if you are stretching so far— like I hope you warmed up before you stretched—and it’s like a little bit of a reach, then it would not work.

There are some correlations here that we may can go with ⬇️⬇️

  • Writing—So obviously, there is the writing portion. That’s a big one. They’re buying words and writing with both of these services. They manifest differently, obviously. You’re buying done for you work.
  • Sustainable Marketing—One thing I always talk about with my services, is if my clients can’t reuse the sales copywriting I do over and over again, you may have heard me say sustainable marketing before, then I’m doing it wrong. So, there’s that element in correlation to both sides as well. 
  • Experience—there’s something to the experience of either the guests or the people interacting with the brand that I make it look at.
  • Outsourcing/details—If they’re outsourcing this, they’re a busy person, but details matter. That could be a correlation that I could play with.
  • Traditional work/styling—There’s something to the fresh take to traditional work or styling. And over here, there’s the element of this is a fresh take on like old school principles that we know work. 

So, those are some initial messages that I can see if I can pull into one type of headline. I know I’ve talked about headlines in other videos, but I hope that helps you understand a little bit how you can start to figure out if two seemingly disparate sides of a business can be under one roof. That brings us to step four. You’re gonna test and pivot if needed. 

Related: How to Write Headlines that Sell on Your Homepage


No. 4| Test and pivot if needed.

So now, you have these three messages that you may want to try. This is why I love Copywriting for Creatives and The Copy Bar community so much because it is most helpful for you to be able to try out the messages on people and see if they even resonate. Does that make sense? I hope you have somewhere to do this before you spit out messages on the internet or update your whole website copy. First figure out—does it even work?

Ask people you trust if this is confusing to put these two things under this one message. Trust me, they’ll tell you. And be prepared to hear the truth. People will be honest in telling you if it works or not.

website outline

Like I said, I had calligraphy and I also had copywriting. For a long time, I told myself that no one would ever buy copywriting for me if I severed off the calligraphy side of my business. I wanted to work with makers and creatives and artists and that kind of person. Because I sold something, calligraphy, that people could, like I said, get married and didn’t really need. I knew what that felt like. I figured no one would trust me to help them write their sales copy if they didn’t know that I knew their struggle because I’d done it for years.

I let that hang up keep calligraphy in my business for probably longer than I needed to until I was finally ready. And I said, you know what? I can get people to trust me regardless because I know what I’m talking about when it comes to copywriting. And so, I removed the calligraphy side. 

But for years, as I was trying to figure out where my place was in the industry, what kind of business I wanted to have, I did have to have two sides to my business under one roof. That’s why I don’t tell people right off the bat, especially if they’re getting started, I don’t say you have to pick one and go. You can have multiple audiences— because for a little bit, business is throwing spaghetti at the wall and trying to figure out where the YOU size gap is in the market. What do people want and where does that overlap with what you’re good at and what you actually like to do.

 It takes a minute to figure it out. 


And there you have it, those are 4 steps to brand your business if you have multiple audiences. If you want to learn more about how you can write personality-packed copy that converts, make sure you grab a seat in my free class all about this. It’s kind of a TED talk. This may be helpful to you after you’ve got this figured out and you’ve split your website off. You need some solid services or work with me pages there—I’ve got a video where I talk about that here.

Again, speaking from experience, don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be afraid to ask people if your message is confusing. If it’s a hard pill to swallow, then you may need to trim down a little bit. Remember that Maria quote that I read and then put the book of “Essentialism” on your list as well. So, there you go. That’s how to organize your message in your business if you have two sides or you’ve have multiple audiences that you’re trying to market to. 

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How to brand your business with multiple audiences | Ashlyn Writes

Reading Time: 9 Minutes

I’m asked a lot how to define a message: How do I blend the messages for both sides of my biz? How do I combine my creative endeavors under one roof?

While I can’t give you a personal answer, I can coach you through it. First things first: Yup, you may need to separate them. And also yup, you may be able to keep your business united. (Not what you wanted me to say, I know). Read on to find out how!

10/18/21

comments +

  1. Nichelle says:

    What do I think? SERIOUSLY? I think you’ve become my new BFF! I am a “recovering anti-social MEDIA butterfly” and Gulf War veteran, with serious aversion to social media. Yes, I am multi-passionate and have struggled with making divergent business messages concise and clear. Thanks for sharing and ALL that you do!

  2. I’m here after taking your quiz! Wow, it really feels like you understand me. I just wanted to say thank-you Ashlyn.

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