Do you know what your prospects look like?
Being bland, vague and generic in your marketing is a problem. It’s boring, it’s dull and it’s NOT serving you well! Sorry to be blunt!
[box]I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone – Bill Cosby TWEET THIS[/box]
Identifying your ideal customer or target audience from the outset is a critical first step to your success in business and you must set aside time to include it in your marketing plan. Whether you’re writing your own copy or you’re outsourcing it, it's vital. Regrettably I've been witness to many who are simply casting their nets too far and wide with the hope of catching something – anything! And, it reminds me of the old saying “if you throw enough mud at the wall – some of it will stick.”
So, if you want to increase your sales please stop spreading yourself too thin! I’ve seen too many of you spending hours on social media, listening to webinar after webinar, or attending multiple workshops, conferences and events, with the hope of attracting the “right” customer. However, when you identify your ideal customer right at the start and really clarify your market you get much better results with less effort.
It's time to get strategic!
Selling is so much easier when you know who your target audience is and specifically who your ideal customer is. What I mean by this is you’ll need to be explicit about your ideal customer by creating a picture of this person. By having an example of your ideal customer in your head it makes it easier for you to find them because you can better convey this person when you're out networking and when you're writing your marketing copy. It also helps you to screen out those who are just not right too!
If you’re selling to individuals, think about their profession, income bracket, age group, gender, ethnicity, marital status, interests and hobbies, where they live, where they hang out, what they like to read, watch, and even what their personality traits are. If you’re selling to companies, consider the nature of the business, the sector, size of company, geographic area, whether they are established or a start-up, where they like to hang out and network.
You may find that you'll come up with several ideal customer profiles, and that’s ok. Just as we all have different types of friends, you may choose to work with different types of customers but make sure they’re a great fit for your business.
Describe your ideal customer with as much detail as possible. For example, Apple’s marketing team has my picture up on their walls as one of their ideal customers so their description is: female, 35-45yrs, high earner, creative background, mother, likes fashion, shoes, travel, loves music – motown, jazz, blues, disco, reading classics, Seth Godin blogs, watching Marie-Forleo, TED talks, Downton Abbey, Top Gear, film junkie, animal lover, vegetarian, environmentalist, conservationist, organic food, adrenaline junki etc. Armed with this kind of information, Apple can now market to me in all sorts of ways, and they do!
Market to one person
Once you’ve identified your ideal customer, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get dirty so delve deeper and give them a name. Then communicate only to that person in all of your marketing. Address only the problems that person has that you can help solve them. As you already know where they spend their time, what they read and so on, you also know how and where to engage with them and market to them.
I hope by now you're getting the picture and understanding that the power of defining your target market and specifically your ideal customer in detail is IMMENSE. Niche marketing is where the money is so I'd encourage you to spend time on this rather than trying to sell to the whole world. In the comments below, tell me whether you've identified your ideal customer and target audience and what your biggest frustration or challenge with it is. Let me know what action you'll take as a result of reading this post too. I'd love to hear.
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With love and gratitude – as always,
How do I know who my real customer is?
Jodi, what a great question! And we so need to talk/meet to go through the avatar exercise. How far have you got with it?
You'd first go through the avatar/ideal customer exercise and then you'd build some qualification questions to check. There's a process to this. I'll do a blog on it & go through it with you when we meet.
Just watched your video. Took notes so I can answer every question you posed. This actually is the same kind of detail and specificity I go for as an actress becoming the character. Thanks.
EXCELLENT share, Tina…
Just watched your video. Took notes so I can answer every question you posed. This actually is the same kind of detail and specificity I go for as an actress becoming the character. Thanks.
That’s so interesting Tina, I never thought of it like this. Thanks for letting me know. I’m sure it will spark further thinking & blogs! 🙂
Jane Frankland, you are a wealth of information. Love how you are bringing all of your business knowledge and success together in these videos.