Ensure Success Connecting with Your Target Audience
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If your business is struggling to reach a target audience or demographic, there are several factors that you should consider adjusting before moving forward. Here are a few suggestions to help you hone in on your target audience or demographic and bring greater success to your business.
What Problem Does Your Product or Service Solve?
This is marketing 101 and typically one of the first questions asked when considering starting a business. From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs. When we seek out a product or service, we’re looking to fulfill a need or desire. What are the needs and desires of your target audience or demographic? Once you know, you can create a compelling marketing pitch. Honesty and transparency are of the utmost importance in the world today. Remember, profit should not be your number one driving factor, that should be building and sustaining a community of loyal customers. If people don’t trust you or get the sense that you only want their money, they are likely to go elsewhere.
Who is Your Target Audience or Demographic?
While this is usually a question that is asked prior to kickstarting a business, it is always important to evaluate specifics occasionally, as experience brings knowledge and wisdom. Perhaps, originally you had a larger target audience, but over time you realized that certain sectors of that audience don’t typically turn into sales for you, and that the time and money spent marketing to them could be better utilized for another unlikely sector that you didn’t originally consider, but has turned out to be profitable. It is important to not utilize your time, money and resources to pitch to the wrong people. For instance, if you’re marketing replacement windows to people who rent their apartment or house, it’s not benefitting your business because they do not have the right as a renter to replace the windows in those homes. For this reason, direct mail marketing can be useful. With this option, you can reach individuals that you know are in a position to benefit from your product or service.
Pull Your Audience in with More Compelling Marketing Content
Social media still reigns, so it’s important to have an online presence with two or more of the most popular outlets, in order to engage with past and potential customers or clients. We can all be influencers nowadays, and if a customer enjoys your product or service, you need to have a presence online so they can tag you, thus potentially bringing in more business. Another way to get creative is with posting videos on YouTube. Let your audience know what it is that you’re up to, give them sneak peeks into any new products that may be available soon, give them options to pre-order, create a poll and ask what products or services they’d like to see from you, then provide them if they’re a popular choice.
Think About Turn-Around Time
One of the worst things a business can do is take too long to deliver their product to a customer, but worse yet, is not getting back to a potential customer or client with an answer to their question or inquiry within a decent amount of time. If you don’t respond to an email or call, they’ve likely already lost interest and trust, and moved on to another company that will provide the right service. If there’s only one factor you improve, this should be the one.
Hopefully, this helped give you a few ideas for really honing in on your target audience or demographic and creating ideas that will help your business experience greater success. Remember, no product or service is universal. While, understandably, you would want to reach the largest audience possible, you must be willing to make your marketing plan more direct to ensure the most return on investment, as well as build the community that will continually help your business thrive.