One of the critical questions I ask my clients before I start gathering information is ‘Who is your target audience?’. I wish I could say that they are all completely clear on the answer to that question, but many aren’t and it makes my job virtually impossible if I don’t know who I’m writing for.
Too many people answer ‘Anyone who wants what I’ve got’. It’s impossible to get to know ‘Anyone’ well enough to know what matters to them and to craft a message that will connect with them.
Some people have identified an industry e.g. architects, but then they’ll add a whole lot more – surveyors, building contractors, property developers, etc. etc. The broader the field the harder it is to create a message that will hit the ‘hot button’ for everyone. That’s because each one of those groups of people will have different wants and needs; they have a different emotional trigger that connects with them – and makes them want to connect with you.
I know that it’s not good business to be only in a single niche, but, if you have several different target audiences, then you will need several different messages to reach each one effectively. This will definitely mean separate flyers and email campaigns for each target group. Targeting people on your website is more challenging as your home page will need to give all your niches an idea of what you can do for them to persuade them to explore the page that is targeted only on their wants and needs.
Having a separate website for each niche can work – there’s nothing wrong with linking these together. It does allow you to really hone your message so your target audience really get it.
How well do you know your target audience? What is important to them and which of their problems can you solve?
