– by Erin Brocklebank –
It’s not easy to figure out who you need to talk to when it comes to your business. Think about the problem your business solves, then think about who would benefit from your solution. Sounds simple enough, but even the biggest brands in the world struggle to nail this down. One thing is certain, if you have your audience wrong, you have everything wrong.
It’s Never Everyone
A good place to start is to realize that your business’s audience isn’t everyone. In your quest to be everything to everyone, you’ll likely end up achieving nothing memorable for your ideal prospect – especially when you’re working with a limited marketing and advertising budget. That said, the people you really want to talk to are the ones who are most likely to buy your product or to influence someone else to buy your product. List every single type of customer who needs your product or service, why they want it and how they use it. If you find this difficult, think in terms of who wouldn’t use it or who your customer is not. Look at your list and try to find commonalities in how and why they use your product.
Be Empathetic
Now dig a little deeper. Be empathetic when you think of your audience – this means considering and identifying with your customers’ feelings, thoughts and attitudes. How do your customers really feel about your brand? Consider any barriers that might keep them from buying and using your product. Who do they trust and what do they believe in? Remember to always think about if from your customer’s point of view, not from your own.
Create a Customer Persona
Based on your discovery and findings, create a Customer Persona for your brand – a made-up person that represents your ideal buyer. Think of it as a way to centralize a broader target. This will help you really get to know your audience as a person, and not just as a group based on demographics and psychographics. Spend some time considering your Customer Persona – give her a name, an age, a job, outline her lifestyle, imagine her house, her family, and interests. The next time you make any decisions about your business and your product, consider how your ideal Customer Persona would feel about it.
Once you really know who you need to talk to and what you want to say, get your message out there. Giving the right customer a reason to believe you’re the answer is the basis of a great advertising campaign – and a successful business!
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