Who is your target market?
If you said “everyone,” you’re probably wrong.
As a small business, you can’t market to everyone. You don’t have the time or the money. And that’s OK, because not everyone wants to buy what you’re selling, anyway.
Last week, we outlined why it’s so important to learn who makes up your small business audience. Now, let’s talk about how to actually go about identifying these people and capturing your prospects’ information.
How to Discover Your Audience
Look at Your Existing Customers
When you’re trying to find prospective customers, you need to start with your existing customers. Who are they? What do they buy? How old are they? How much do they spend each time they shop with you?
You should see some patterns. Maybe most of your customers are retired. Or perhaps the majority are women. Or maybe 75% of them own RVs and have blue hair.
The more you know about your existing customers, the easier it is to spot a prospect. And the next time you see a 70-year-old woman with blue hair trying to parallel park her RV on Main Street, you’re probably going to give her your card, because you know she fits your customer profile.
Determine Who Your Product or Service Helps
Your target audience is comprised of people who have a need for your product or service. If you run a landscaping company, you wouldn’t market to people who live in high-rise apartments. Or if you sell Dallas Cowboys memorabilia, you’re not going to target Philadelphia Eagles fans.
What does your product or service do, who can it help and what problems can it solve? The answers to those questions will lead you toward your target audience.
Snoop on the Socials
According to Hootsuite, social listening is “tracking social media platforms for mentions and conversations related to your brand, then analyzing them for insights to discover opportunities to act.” And it can be super useful when it comes to your target audience.
Is someone on Twitter using the hashtag #hvac to complain about their heater going out during a cold snap? If you run an HVAC company, this is a great opportunity to make a connection and solve their problem.
Are you hearing chatter that a competitor acted unprofessionally? Maybe it’s time to reach out and show the customer how they deserve to be treated.
How to Capture Prospects’ Information
Employ Lead Magnets and Contact Forms
Sometimes the best way to capture a prospect’s information is simply to ask them for it. Lead magnets — offering something of value in exchange for information — can be a great way to get all the details you need.
Even a simple contact form (like the one we use!) is enough to get your foot in the door and start making the introductions.
Gated Content
You can offer gated content, in exchange for different information, at different parts of the sales funnel.
Depending on where your customer is in the sales funnel, you can ask for basic information such as email and phone number (top of the funnel), or more advanced information such as pain points (middle of the funnel).
Surveys
You can always try to serve up a survey to your customers, be it via email or popping one up on your website, to discover an array of information about your prospects. Among the things you might ask a prospect are what they’re looking for (why they visited your site in the first place), and what competitor they’re using right now.
If you find that your surveys aren’t getting traction, you can grease the wheels. Offer a chance to win anything from a discount on services to store credit to a bundle of your most popular products.
Are You on Target for Success?
Knowing who your target audience is and being able to easily capture their information is the first step to turning prospects into paying customers. And when you stop throwing good money after bad leads, your bottom line will thank you!
Do you need some help perfecting your aim? Mischa Communications has entered the chat! Let us know what you need.