John Wanamaker, a 19th century retailer is accredited with the quote:
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted;
the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
Many businesses say similar things about their marketing – along the lines of ‘I know some of my marketing is working, but I don’t know what is and what isn’t.’
Some marketing is better than no marketing, but just marketing indiscriminately, is like throwing stuff at a wall and hoping some of it sticks.
If you want to spend your marketing budget intelligently, it pays to choose your strategies carefully. To do that you need to know your audience inside out.
Who are you trying to influence?
It’s not just a case of knowing the industry or business type you want to work with. You also need to know:
What their problems are
If your offer is to be appealing to them, it needs to solve a problem – and one that they are aware of and bothers them. If you know what keeps them awake at night, you’ve got the information you need to pitch a solution.
What skills are missing in their team
This is particularly important with small businesses. As they start to grow the owner will employ people to pick up the work that is essential – like answering the phone, keeping the paperwork up-to-date, issuing and maybe chasing invoices, etc. Could what you’re offering fill a gap – and can you make a compelling case for it?
What they like to do – and what they don’t
Personal style has a big impact on what people do first on their to do list. If they’re a bit of an introvert, chatting on the phone or going to networking meetings may be way down the list. Similarly, if they enjoy tracking all the numbers, some of the written communication work may not get done – and, of course, vice versa. Understanding the kind of people you can help best, where they have a dislike of particular types of work – and you can fill that gap and ensure that no balls are dropped – is an important part of building your ideal client profile.
Where they hang out – online and offline
Just posting information on the feed of the platform you’ve identified as the right place to find your ideal client isn’t enough. Find out where they’re active – are they in particular groups? Who do they follow? Do they belong to forums or clubs? Where do they network offline and online?
It’s no good going to your local business networking group if your ideal client only attends specialist groups. It won’t work to be highly visible on LinkedIn if they’re mostly active in groups.
Focus!
When you really know your audience, it’s easy to create a message that gets their attention and put it right where they’re looking.
So, instead of spending £100 on marketing and getting 5 enquiries, your £100 will double the number of enquiries you get.
Put the effort into understanding your audience and everything just gets easier!
