Developing a marketing strategy is essential for your business. But what if you don’t know who your target customers are? Or worse, what if you’ve never thought about it?
Whether you’re just starting out or expanding your business, it is important to think about who makes up your target customer. Knowing this information will help guide how and where to spend your time and money. It’s also important to know that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to marketing strategies. You have to do research on the demographics of each group so that you can tailor messages accordingly! Below are a few tips to get you started.
Define your target customer
Before you can reach your target customers, you need to understand them.
The first step in understanding your target customer is defining who exactly they are. If, for example, your business sells makeup and you encounter a potential customer who wants to buy perfume, it doesn't make sense for you to sell her makeup. It will be a waste of your time trying to do that and might be a put-off for the customer on the other hand.
Identifying your target customer is important not just from a strategic perspective but also from one driven by ethics and legality as well as good business practices (GPP).
Identify where to find your target customers
There are several ways to reach your target customers effectively.
Demographics: Your target customers' demographics can inform where you advertise, and what media outlets you choose to reach them on. Some examples of this include age, gender, income level and marital status.
Psychographics: Your target customers' psychographics can help guide how you tailor a message to resonate with them. For example, if your product is high-end and expensive (like an Audi or Rolex), it may be worth focusing on people who buy luxury goods because they'll likely have the disposable income for it. If you're selling more affordable items like clothing or food (such as at Costco), then targeting those with higher incomes will likely result in more sales since they have more spending power overall than their lower-income counterparts.
Geographic location: Where does your target customer live? Maybe they live in New York City so there's no point trying to run ads on local radio stations; maybe they live out west so running ads on websites about hiking trails would be beneficial for reaching them; maybe they live somewhere else entirely! It all depends on where they hang out online or offline when not working/living at home. Once you have this information, marketing to them becomes so much easier.
Research key channels to build brand awareness
Figure out which channels will work best to reach your customers where they are. Below are a few options to look into:
Social media
Email marketing
Content marketing
Influencer marketing
Paid advertising
A few other channels that can be effective for building your brand awareness include public relations, online ads and search engine optimization.
Create a desire for your company’s products or services
You’ve identified your target customer, and you’re ready to get started on building brand awareness. The next step is to create a desire for your company’s products or services.
To do this, you need to use the channels you identified in Step 3 as often as possible. This will allow customers to see what your company has to offer and realize that they want it! You also need to look at how other companies in the same industry as you market their products or services. You can use this information to create strategies that have worked well for other brands and adapt them for your own campaign (This process is called “best practices”). For example: If one of the competitors offers free shipping on orders over $50, try offering free shipping on all orders above $30.
In conclusion, putting the customer at the center of your company’s marketing strategy will help you improve your brand and make it more profitable. By being clear about who your target customers are and knowing how to reach them, you will create a stronger connection with them.
If you would like to learn more about how to find your target customers, join our free webinar hosted by our Founder, Casey Ariel, where she provides useful tips on how to find your target customers using her signature W.W.J.D. method.