We are bombarded with messages all day long and we’ve gotten really good at tuning out anything that is not relevant to us. So the more you understand about who your prospective customer is, what’s important to them and what questions and what problems they have, the more in tune your message will be and the more likely that you will attract the people who are a right fit for your product or service.
Who Is Your Ideal Customer?
Get back to basics. Take a look at the demographics of your audience. Where do they live? How old are they? How much money do they make? What are their likes and dislikes?
It’s worth spending some time thinking about this and getting it right because understanding who you are serving is essential for your messaging and reaching those people. What do you know about your audience? Take a look at some of the basics:
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- How much money do they make?
- Do you serve mostly men, women or both?
- Do they have children?
Although you will get customers of all kinds, you’ll want to consider who you want to attract the most. If you’re a travel agent who wants to book more family vacations, you won’t necessarily try to target single, young adults. That doesn’t mean you won’t have these customers. But, remember if you try reaching everyone, you’ll end up speaking to no one. We are very good at tuning out anything we feel isn’t relevant to us, and overly generic messages don’t resonate with anyone.
Narrow Down Your Ideal Audience
Identify your ideal audience. What problems or questions do they have?
Once you know the general demographics of your ideal audience, it’s important to dig a little deeper to make sure you’re appealing to them at all stages of the buyer’s journey. Ask yourself the following questions:
- How do they identify themselves?
- What do they love?
- What do they hate?
- What brands do they buy or follow?
- What values do they hold, and what are their priorities?
- What transformation are they looking for?
- What is the goal they have?
- What problem are they trying to solve that your product or service helps them with?
- What is it they need or want out of what you can offer?
What transformation is your audience looking for and how can you help them achieve that?
These are the questions you need to think about and write down the answers to. You want to have a picture of this person in your mind and speak directly to them when you are creating your content. If you find this difficult, sometimes it’s easier to start by identifying who is not your client, and that is useful too.
The bottom line is this. Understanding the customer who you would like more of is crucial in developing marketing messages that work and get you results. Get our worksheet and spend some time developing a picture of your ideal customer. One caveat: don’t overthink this though. You’ll adjust this over time as you figure out what is working and what isn’t working. Your customer may change over time as well, but start today.
Links in this episode: Tell Your Story Online To Reach More Customers
Give Your Customers A Great Experience
