One of my favorite clients used to have issues with connecting to her target market. She didn’t understand what was at the root of the issue. She had large social media followings but little interaction. Her website analytics showed she had a lot of traffic, but her bounce rate was ridiculous. When I looked at her social media posts and her website content, I quickly figured out her issue.
Simply put, her message was all over the place. None of it was consistent or told a clear story. She seemed to be talking to no one and visitors saw that. Fast forward a year later and her business was successful and growing at an amazing rate.
What was the difference? She finally started targeting her idea client and created content that spoke directly to them. But you may be thinking, how did she figure out who she should target? Well, I’ve compiled a list of tips that you can use to find your target market, just like she did.
Use Your Product or Service
- What problem does your service or product solve? Who needs that problem solved and what are their characteristics? This can tell you not only who to target, but what type of message to use. Let’s say that your product or service helps parents of kids with learning disabilities. This tells you that content centered around families or kids will go far. It will not only attract your idea market, but it will also repel the wrong one.
- Look at how you are selling your product or service. Are you selling digital products online or physical products in boutiques? Are you service virtual services on a site like Fiverr or physical services like house cleaning? Look at who would purchase services or product through those platforms/means? For example, if your product or service that helps the parents in the first example is delivered virtual, chances are your clients will be younger parents. However, if your service is delivered in person in Dallas, Texas, your ideal client would be parents living in the Dallas area.
- Now, look at your differentiator. This might seem like it would help target your ideal client but think about it this way. What type of person would value this difference? Let’s say that your differentiator is that you are dyslexic, and you created a system for teaching spelling using the techniques you used to become a regional spelling bee champion. Parents that value real world knowledge or hard work would be your ideal clients.
- What is your price point? Is this a luxury item or a budget friendly one? This target market tip is a little more obvious. A luxury item or service will appeal to a different crowd from the budget friendly.
Your Existing or Ideal Customers Can Guide You
- For those just starting out, list a few characteristics of someone who would need/want your service or product or someone who you think you would like to work with. Use this to guide your content creation. Would they be driven and extraverted? Would they be analytical and reserved? Would they spend their free time scrolling Pinterest or do they enjoy learning from YouTube videos?
- If you have existing customers, try breaking them into groups. What are the similarities? Where did they encounter you? What are their characteristics? Let this data help you create website content, social media posts, and other content with them in the heart of everything you create.
- But don’t stop with tip 6. Poll your existing customers or even the market that you think might be a fit for your product or service. Ask them exactly what they’re looking for. You can not only use that to help you talk about the right things, but also use the words they use in your content to connect even more.
Look at Your Competition
- Have you heard the saying, don’t reinvent the wheel? Review your competition’s content to see who they are targeting. How is your product or service different and how is it the same? Does that make their market fit your product or service more or less? What platforms are they using to interact with their customers? Look at their most popular posts. What works well and what doesn’t? Your competition is treasury trove of helpful information!
Take Advantage of Tools
- As must have for any business owner is Google Analytics. This powerful tool isn’t just good for tracking traffic. It can help you learn who’s visiting your website, what got them there (keywords, referring site (i.e. Facebook), etc), the pages they spent the most or least time on and so on. This information can help you target the right social media platforms or other websites. It can also help you plan successful ads using demographics and other information gathered. I recommend that my clients take advantage of this incredible resource.
- With the advancements in social media platforms, platform insights are right up there with Google Analytics for narrowing down your target market. For example, Facebook Insights provides data about who’s interacting with your business page, like sources, demographics, page views, external referrers, and individual post stats.
I hope these tips and tools help you build your authentic brand with a market just as authentic as you. If you need help with reviewing your analytics or building your ideal client profile, I am here to help. Contact me to set up a discovery call to see if my coaching style is a good fit for you. All discovery calls are free and last between 10 and 15 minutes typically.