If you don’t know about your ideal client before creating your marketing strategy, you’re making a very expensive mistake.
In April of 2020, knowing your ideal client has never been more essential. Even in periods of economic downturns, people are still living and making purchases and better yet, supporting the small businesses they care about.
Do you ever feel like your best efforts land in a social media void?
Have you invested a lot of time, energy and money in your business?
How about writing content that creates community, engagement while creating genuine promoters and customers for your brand?
Don’t you want to continue to engage and grow while representing your unique core values as an entrepreneur with a vision?
If you answered yes to these questions, keep reading. Now is the time to pull those pesky weeds out of your business development strategy, till some seriously fertile soil and reach for the sun.
Every single purchase is an emotional decision. No matter what size your business is, your industry or how established you are, taking the time to understand your consumer base will make a serious impact on the success of your marketing efforts and your bottom line.
Who is buying from you?
When you define and refine who is buying from you, the perspective that shapes your communication strategy is transformed along with your ROI. Please pay extra attention to the word refine in the last sentence. The detailed process of understanding your consumers daily life, struggles and successes will provide critical data that supports a deep understanding of what motivates customers to purchase from you.
Be sure to check all of your analytics to get the hard data you can measure to understand:
- Where your traffic is coming from
- What days & times are best to post
- What type of content is engaging your community & what isn’t
- Which platforms are producing sales and growing your email list
- A/B testing on your opt-ins so you can continue to leverage interest
- Your open rates on newsletters
Once you have this data, you are able to easily implement it into your marketing strategy, but it isn’t enough.
Knowing the ABC’s of the data is important, but it won’t mean anything if you don’t engage and make an emotional connection. I want the days of you putting your heart and soul into blog posts, newsletters and video series to experience tumble weeds to be over.
More than ever, it’s noisy online. Everyone is hanging out there.
How will your brand stand out and make a connection?
It’s time to connect, engage and grow your brand through authentic connection and leveraging your unique strengths.
Taking the time to dive deeply into who and why people are buying from you, is like dumping a truckload of organic non-gmo compost onto your flower garden.
Ask yourself, “Do I have a clear understanding of the daily life, needs and challenges of my ideal client?”
Data like this will positively impact the:
- Headlines you write for emails and social posts
- Images you post on your social accounts
- Core values you align with your brand
- Connection/pain points you blog about
- Themes of your content planning
- Conferences you attend or speak at
- Networking groups you visit & join
- Amount of engagement your social produces
- Key areas you provide education on
- Frequency and timing of your posts
- Best platforms for you to reach the people who can truly benefit from your product/service
Do you feel that knowing this information could support your business growth? If so, you are ready to wrap your marketing around your ideal client. Sure, we all know the demographics and even some psychographics of our customers, but do you know what keeps them up at night?
I work with a zero waste delivery service and they understand that their clientele care about the environment while having robust schedules. Their ideal client wants to lessen their footprint but still shops at places like Costco and sometimes feel like a hypocrite. Their brand makes an effort to show how they aren’t perfect either, and its about making good choices that work for you in your home, while implementing manageable steps like ordering refillable dry goods and cleaning products, reusable produce bags and dish soap blocks. Supporting, connecting and making it easy for customers to make better choices, feel great about them and encouraging them on how to make even better ones through uplifting education, humour and genuine connection.
Do you have an understanding and an empathy for how you can support your ideal client to live without fear and stress in relation to what your brand delivers? Do your visuals, message and overall content plan reflect their daily life experience? Does your tone make them feel understood and heard, creating a connection?
How to Get Started Finding Your Ideal Client
I can’t emphasize how important this is. My private coaching clients and I work on this and discuss it at every coaching session. It’s a deep dive and the information it produces lays the foundation for EVERYTHING. I’m talking marketing strategy, pricing, timelines, positioning, brand identity and more.
I recommend picking one person you have worked with who you would clone 1,000 times if you could. You would do cartwheels if they sent all their like-minded peeps over to your Instagram or Landing Page. Choose an individual and break down as much data as you can in their life, their struggles, what they enjoy and their biggest struggles.
Writing it down makes it real.
When you invest in defining & refining an avatar of your ideal consumer, you make a true connection while building a loyal and engaged community around your brand. When you speak to the heart of a consumer, you allow them to self-select for the purchase; a real bonus.
I’m a firm believer that you get out of life what you put into it. If you are determined to grow your list, expand your online offering or pave the way to your best year of revenue, take the time to break down your ideal client avatar.
Trying to reach everyone is a waste of time; you need engage in a strategy that actually works. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
The quality of the question produces the quality of the answer; ask incredible questions so that you can live, work and play in full bloom.
If this sounds overwhelming, I can help. Click here to schedule a discovery conversation.
your Coach,
Lisa
