It’s a hectic time running your own business. We all can get so bogged down with the day-to-day logistics that sometimes we forget to put our head above the parapet and take stock and really think about our clients and end consumers.
Do you think you’re crystal clear on your audience? Have you taken the time to look at the people using your service or buying your product and really analyse who they are, what commonalities they have and subsequently build a client profile?
If that’s a n0 – that’s fine! It’s easy done as time is often short. A lot of us have a great idea about who our customers are that was maybe formed when the business started and we think we know who they are but we haven’t re-visited our customer profile a few years on.
When I first started my business, I had an idea of who I wanted my target audience to be but that has definitely grown and changed in the past couple of years. I now know that I love working with creatives, often with an ethical edge and have a passion for working with start-ups. What I also know is who I don’t like working with which I won’t divulge here!
It is worth taking time out to really asses your audience and build that all-important customer profile. This is created from your clients, your social media followers (in particular, who is engaging with your brand) and your network or supporters / ambassadors. What is hugely useful is being really specific on your customer – give them a name, an age, interests, work/life balance etc so you get under the skin of what makes them tick.
Once you have this, this proves imperative when formulating your marketing plan as you have a crystal clear idea of the end consumer in mind and, subsequently, all marketing activity is channeled to reaching them.
This will save you time and money as, sadly, I see so many brands throwing money at marketing activity when they’re not clear who they’re targeting as they haven’t taken the time out to really look at their brand, their offer and who their clients are.
Brands that are successful know who their audience is and talk directly to them and even if that’s 1% of the whole population that’s absolutely fine as it’s still a lot of people. You have to remember that you can’t be everything to everybody, and nor should you want to be. The key is finding your audience, no matter how niche, and speak directly to them to generate interest, engagement and ultimately sales.
When brands forget this and try to do everything is sadly, when they lose their core audience (remember when M&S tried to go all younger and cooler?) and a lot don’t ever recover.
Know your audience, talk to them, ask them what they like about your business and want to see more of. Get them involved and make them feel part of your brand – who doesn’t like to feel part of a wonderful and exclusive club?!
If you’d like to work with me on your target audience, I’d love to hear from you.
