Your business success depends upon how well you know your customer.
In this article, I want to help you nail your target audience. I will do this by sharing 3 simple steps you can apply in your next marketing research.
Before I share these 3 simple, powerful steps, I want to tell you a short story about one of my clients. His story illustrates the breakthrough he had in making his brand succeed. This breakthrough happened once we nailed his target audience through this efficient approach to his marketing research.
A real expert
My client, let’s call him Magnificent Mandy, was a real expert in his field. He knew everything there was to know about making persuasive presentations. He was in his element when he was standing in front of a large audience presenting his business executive’s vision and corporate strategy. The audience loved his energy and enthusiasm.
One day Magnificent Mandy came to me. He said: “I want to make a living making persuasive presentations for businesses!”
“That sounds like a great business idea,” I said. I continued: “Tell me a little bit more about what it is you want to do.”
Magnificent Mandy got all excited and spoke with big gestures: “I got so much praise for my presentation at work. I just feel like I can make a great independent living helping businesses improve their presentations”.
Death by Bullet Points
He continued: “You know. Many of the big corporations present their strategies using Death by Bullet Points?”
“I can help them change all of that!” he said with persuasion in his voice.
“You have a point there,” I said. “I have experienced countless BORING lectures during my Master of Business Administration. All those endless slides with bullet points about market relations, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, and Human Resource Management. The topics were fascinating in themselves, but the presentations surely made it very difficult to stay awake.”
Magnificent Mandy was pleased about my encouragement and support of his business idea.
I asked him if he needed any help with his marketing research. I had excellent research tools in my MBA toolbox, such as target group analysis, audience segmentation, SWOT-analysis, PESTEL, to name a few.
I’ve got this!
Magnificent Mandy was convinced that he could do it himself.
A couple of months went by before I spoke with Magnificent Mandy again.
“How is it going?” I asked.
Mandy said: “I just don’t get it. I have all these amazing skills, and I just can’t seem to get through and get high-value customers”.
Who is your ideal customer?
“Who is your ideal customer?” I asked. Magnificent Mandy looked very thoughtful at first. Then all of a sudden, his eyes lit up. Magnificent Mandy had a breakthrough.
”It’s not about me!”
Magnificent Mandy came to this crucial realization. “It’s not about me!”
And he is not the only one. A lot of new business owners make the same mistake unknowingly. The problem is that it is difficult to transition from being an expert to being in business.
As one of the most basic principles in entrepreneurship states: “You can only successfully sell what your client wants to buy.”
This brings me to the pivotal point in increasing brand success.
Get to REALLY know your target audience
The most crucial thing in building a successful business is to make this profound shift in your focus. Move your attention away from yourself and your own skills. Shift your attention onto your ideal client or customer. To make that shift, you need to do some SERIOUS marketing research.
One thing is to THINK you know who your ideal customer is. Another thing is to REALLY know your target audience based on FACTS.
You can use these 3 simple steps to get started with your marketing research. They have worked for many of my clients over the years. And if they work for Magnificent Mandy, they will work for you.
3 steps to nail your target audience
You can follow these 3 simple steps to nail your target audience.
1. Create an avatar of your ideal client. It could be Adventure Adam, Anxiety Ann, Healthy Heather, or Safety Sam.
2. Get to REALLY know your avatar. Research his/her profiles on social media. Find his/her language, interests, hopes, dreams, desires, fears. Find what is important to him/her personally and professionally.
3. TEST your assumptions about your avatar. Do interviews with real people that resemble your avatar. Ask questions to verify and adjust the avatar of your ideal client.
If you follow these steps, you will nail your target audience. You will be able to make your marketing material personable and persuasive. Your ideal customer will feel as if you were writing to them precisely like a friend that knows them well.
Writing with your well-researched and fact-checked avatar in mind will inevitably increase your brand success.
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And feel free to reach out if you need help with your marketing research and your content and copy.
About Sophie H Higgins, MA, MBA, MBC: I’m a freelance copywriter, professional speaker, business coach, and martial artist. I specialize in providing high-quality content and in helping people and businesses grow. Need a copywriting magician? 🧙♀ 📖 ⚡As a copywriter and business coach, I can help you boost your client flow.