You’ve probably heard about customer profiles or avatars. They are fictional characters that represent the key characteristics of your ideal customers.
We agree that researching your target market feels overwhelming. You want to jump right into the fun stuff, but if you don’t know who your customer is, how are you going to reach and resonate with them?
Clarify who your customers are. Understand their needs. And create a plan to meet those needs.
Discovering Your Target Market
The process of understanding your target market can be time-consuming but the time invested will help you understand who they are, their characteristics, their problems, their likes, and their dislikes.
We’ll dive into the details of how to do effective, in-depth research in another article, but here are a few preliminary ideas to get you started, to get some overview and ideas where you might want to delve deeper. Read industry reviews and market surveys, do a focus group, and talk with your existing repeat or long-term customers.
Reviewing the information you’ve uncovered will help you to figure out what your market cares about, and what they are expecting from your product or service.
Most businesses learn things that they have never considered. As these new insights come to light, realize that they could be the key to making a difference in your business. This information will help you expand your customer base and build a deeper connection with existing ones.
Finding An Under-Served Market
Even if your business is small, you can still compete favorably with other businesses to win customers. All you need to do is find a segment of the market that isn’t being served fully by your competitors.
If you want to carve out a niche for your product, having a focused marketing plan that fits a smaller and underserved section of the total market is the way to go.
People will want to stick with the service provider that went the extra mile to reach them and has the specialized services that can create a solid and unique solution that fully meets their needs.
Too many business owners are focusing on serving the general public, so you will be a step ahead as you focus on your niche because your message will speak directly to the people you want to attract.
Craft A Customer Centered Message
Did you know that you miss out on great customers when they don’t fully understand how your product will change their life for the better?
Your customers have unique preferences and needs, and it creates a “win win” when you take the time to listen to their concerns and learn about them so that you can make each transaction a fantastic experience for all.
Once you fully understand their needs, make sure that your message is 100% focused on them (not you). Let them know that you “get it” and truly care about them.
Strengthen The Connection With Your Audience
Consumers want brands to appeal to them as real people with their own lives, dreams, and emotions. They aren’t “things” that need your “stuff”. As you identify your target audience you will understand them as real people. What are they truly interested in? How do they think? What do they care about? How do they make buying decisions?
When you have the answers to these questions, you’re able to create a message that will build a stronger connection with your customer. This increases customer loyalty and results in raving fans – which is the strongest connection to have!
Increase Your Return On Investment
You may have a large marketing budget, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about missing out on potential sales and opportunities. You should maximize every dollar of your budget.
Having the right demographic and psychographic information about your audience will help create the right message, decide which channels to focus your marketing dollars on, and will increase your ROI as more people respond to and interact with your message.
Vital To Your Business
Creating or updating your customer profile(s) is a vital step in the success of your marketing and ultimately, your business. Each of the benefits I talked about above blend into “to-do’s” for identifying your target market, but before you start working, I wanted you to see why they were important.
So, unless you’re completely bleeding sales, I’m not suggesting that you stop your current marketing efforts until you have a completed profile.
However, I am (strongly!) recommending that you, schedule some focused time where you can at least churn through the basics of the demographics and psychographics of your market. Get a first pass done, make adjustments as needed, and then go back for a deeper pass.
Seriously… this is one of the most important things you can do for your business today.
Are you struggling with your target market? Do you know you’re leaving money on the table? Let’s maximize your online presence.
About Christy Kiltz
Christy Kiltz is the owner of Design! by Kiltz Internet Solutions and has been taking care of business owners online since 2001. Her high-touch digital agency is located in Southern Oregon and provides comprehensive online marketing services and technology solutions that free up business owners to focus on what they love to do instead.
According to Christy, “Service-based business clients come to us spinning their wheels trying to make money online. We form a partnership to turn their websites into lead-generating machines. Our White Glove Growth program is designed to help you get more leads and grow your business.”
In addition to building websites and offering technical support, Christy’s primary focus is education and empowerment. By toning down the “geek” and offering practical tools easily understood by non-technical folks, Christy opens the black box of technology with classes, webinars, and web tips developed to demystify digital marketing. With ease and a bit of humor, she reminds us that while technology continues to move forward at warp speed, many foundational marketing principles remain.
Christy Kiltz joins us as a regular contributor to share her digital marketing expertise with our business community. Enjoy her articles and commentaries!
Find out more about how Christy can help your business grow. Want to book a “20” with Christy for a focused Q/A? It’s free with no hard sales pitch.
