As a business owner, believing that any customer is a good customer for your business is tempting. However, suppose you fail to understand who your ideal client is and what makes them tick. In that case, you risk losing an opportunity to maximise your sales success, ultimately affecting the long-term viability of your venture.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to narrow your target market to a specific sub-set, by doing so, you can capture an audience with targeted content, products or services that will resonate with your customer and create valuable trust and loyalty to your business.
Your perfect customer may change and evolve over the life of your business, but as an entrepreneur, it’s essential to define your target audience right from the outset.
How to create your ideal customer profile
There are two ways to look at who your ideal client is. You can target based on demographics, or you can focus on the psychographics of your target market.
Demographics include:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Occupation
- Income range
- Marital and family status
Evaluating the demographic of your target audience can; give you an idea of how to present your content, identify the best advertising medium, establish the marketing tone and content needed to resonate with a specific group, and hone the products or services that will most appeal to your ideal client.
Psychographics includes:
- Personality
- Characteristics
- Habits
- Likes
- Dislikes
- Lifestyle
Psychographics requires extra effort to determine your ideal client’s values, beliefs, lifestyle and buying traits. Using in-depth market research, you’ll come to know what hobbies or activities appeal to your ideal client and what their likes, dislikes, and opinions on current affairs are. These psychographic traitsprovide a wealth of customer insights that will inform you of the best ways to reach, attract and develop their custom.
What are the key needs of this demographic?
An effective business model provides a solution to a need. Understanding your customers’ needs in detail will give your business a valuable advantage over your competitors to customise and tailor your goods and services.
The simplest way to understand their key needs is to put yourself in your ideal customer’s shoes and ask yourself questions such as:
- What challenges do I face?
- What issues are holding me back?
- What are my dreams and aspirations?
- Who do I aspire to be?
The more detailed the information, the more accurate you will target your customer’s needs and wants.
How do your products or services meet your client’s needs?
Once you have established a detailed customer persona, you need to ensure that your product or service satisfies their needs at a price they are willing to pay. If confusion or overwhelm sets in, just keep it simple and go back to the basics. Ask yourself, “What do my customers need, and how can I provide it at a competitive price?”
For example, a common issue for many people is not eating enough fruit and vegetables. Many people are looking for healthy food delivered conveniently at an affordable price.
One solution could be a fresh fruit and vegetable delivery service to home or work that provides quick, easy access to healthy food regularly at a reasonable price. The customer’s needs and wants are satisfied, and a customer niche is successfully filled.
How to engage and resonate with your target market
To sell your products, customers need to be aware of your brand and trust the company behind it. Therefore an important part of your customer research will be understanding marketing and promotional strategies that align with your business and its message.
Knowing where your customers hang out – both online and in the real world – is critical information when it comes to promotion. Especially in today’s digital age, there’s a wide range of online resources such as podcasts and social media platforms to navigate.
With good market research, you will soon find where your target audience is located. It could be Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or at their local gym. Having this information will guide you through creating the best course of marketing activities for your business success.
Stay aligned with your customers
The more you know about your customers, the better your chance of personalising their messages. And remember to consistently base your customer profiles on accurate data rather than guesswork, or personal preferences, for the most accurate information.
A successful business is not a set-and-forget process. Be proactive, survey your existing customers periodically and create a new buyer persona for each distinctive character trait that doesn’t already fit within an existing profile.
This will help you find prospects, nurture leads and turn casual browsers into loyal life-long buyers.
Do you need help getting your new business off the ground? Connect with Numble today, and we’ll help you get started.
