Attracting The Right Customers For Your Business

When attracting customers to your business, it may be tempting to spread the word far and wide to increase the likelihood of sales. Although, this is often a poor strategy as not all customers are the right fit for your business and you may not be for them. It’s important to reduce the size of your reach to those who are the right fit for your business.

1. Understanding Who Your Ideal Customer Is

Understanding your ‘ideal customer’ is incredibly important as it allows you as a business owner to develop an effective marketing communication strategy specific to that audience. If you do not understand who your customer is, you will waste time and resources without achieving your business objectives.

 

2. Define Your Target Market

Look at your current customer base and understand why they want business from you. Ask questions like:

  • What type of customer generates the most business?
  • What benefit are these customers gaining from purchasing your product or service?

Once these points have been defined, you can begin to understand the market demographics. Demographics include: age, gender, location, average income, education, occupation and so on. You can also consider their psychographics such as: personality, attitudes, values, lifestyles, behaviours and values.

For example:

  • What are the problems faced by this segment in the marketplace?
  • How will your business resolve these?

At the end of this exercise, you should understand what drives your target market to make decisions.

 

3. Articulating Your Position and Differentiation

Positioning is a process used to identify the customer’s opinion of your business compared to your competitors. For you to position your product/service effectively it’s important to answer the following questions:

  • How do you want your products/services to be perceived within the market?
  • How do your products/services compare to your competitors?

 

Differentiation is the process of discovering what makes your product/service stand out in the minds of your target audience. What are the characteristics of your product/service that make your business different? Ideally, these characteristics are valued by the customer when evaluating choices in a purchasing decision.

 

4. Get Your Branding Down Pat

Having a solid brand identity is vital for several reasons, for example: Enhances your business’s image, improves trust and loyalty with customers, showcases your personality and commitment to success and makes your business a memorable one.

 

In order to create a strong brand, you must take your brand’s attributes into account. Your customer must connect with your brand, so it’s important to show the business’s personality and values through your branding. Once distinguishing your identity, create a logo that embodies your brand. It’s important to make your logo stand out by designing something which is unique to your brand.

 

For all correspondence to customers, take into consideration the use of colour palette, font, imagery, and language style and its application across digital platforms and print. Consistency across your website, social media platforms and print mediums is paramount in creating a solid brand.

 

5. Putting It Into Action

After all your hard work, it’s time to discover where your customers are online. You can do this by looking at analytics on your social media platforms. It will provide a snapshot of where your audience spends their time online.

 

Get in front of your target audience. Post-thought-provoking, value-adding content that will either inspire, educate or allow them to connect with your brand.

 

Before implementing any marketing strategies such as targeted paid advertising, it is vital that you complete this process.  If you don’t, you could be wasting your marketing budget without gaining any leads.