Knowing Your Target Audience
This might seem like common sense, since all businesses are looking to sell their products or services to people who need them. But we find that almost every business loses sight of their target audience at some point. And even the most focused businesses overlook or oversimplify their customers’ profile when developing a marketing strategy.
Our suggestion is to really hunker down (yeah…we said hunker) and analyze, or re-analyze your customer base. This can be a real eye opener, especially because consumer trends have changed so much since the social media revolution.
Start by asking the basics and this will lead to some even harder questions that we haven’t listed (and are relative to each individual business). Who are they? How old? Are they men or women, or both? Do they shop online? If so, when are they online? Do they engage in social media (duh)? If so, what mediums are they using (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, Linked In)? Do your customers likely receive email marketing offers from other companies? If so, are they on your list? If not, why?
And then, when you know the answers to the difficult questions, you can use this more detailed customer profile to your advantage. You’ll know who your customer is, when they’re available, and where you should be talking with them.
