- Your Ideal Client or Customer: How do you know who they are?
- Great Networking Events to Attend
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Your Ideal Client or Customer:
How do you know who they are?
Often times when I ask my clients, "Who will buy your product?" or "Who is your
ideal client?" they either do not have a clearly defined customer or they think
everyone will be interested in their product or service.
The truth of the matter is for most businesses there is a small market for their
particular product or service. Determining who your target market is as closely
as possible and then zeroing your marketing efforts to that customer will make for
the most effective marketing. You cannot be all things to all people and do it well.
Be a specialist in what you do.
For start-up businesses, determining the target market is most critical to decide
on the name of the product, service or company, the product packaging, pricing and
many other important decisions that need to be based on knowing clearly and specifically
who your target market is.
If you have an established business, profiling your current customer database will
provide a wealth of information on who they are.
So, how do you determine your primary target market? Note — you may also have a
secondary market. For the sake of this article we will be discussing these items
in terms of a primary market.
To start, first determine why someone would buy your product or service. Why did
you create the product or service you did? Once you know this, there are three categories
you need to look at: the geographic, demographic and psychographic profile of your
target market. Let's look at each one of these separately.
The geographic profile is more easily determined. Where do your current customers
live, how far are they willing to travel to buy your product or service? Are there
any climate considerations for your product? What cities, regions, states and/or
countries will your target market be in? If you are in a regulated industry, where
is your company licensed to do business? Bottom line, where is the best place to
spend your marketing dollars to attract your primary market customers?
For some businesses, with new technology, internet and phone, geography does not
have the boundaries it used to have.
Next, let's look at the demographic profile. Things to consider here are different
depending on if you are business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C).
If you are a B2C, age, gender, education, income, marital status, ethnic or religious
background, family lifecycle (newly married, with or without children, expecting,
married 10-20 years, etc.) may all come into play.
For example a local residential house cleaning business would most likely be looking
for home owners with a higher household income where husband and wife work full
time, are college educated and have children.
If you are B2B the following considerations should be thought about — company size,
whether it is an established or start-up business, is your target market B2B or
B2C, how many employees does it have, do they sell a specific product or service,
where is your own expertise and what companies could you best serve with that expertise?
For example, a freelance graphic designer who was employed most of their career
in the retail environment would most likely target a B2C company who does not have
a graphic designer on staff, perhaps has no marketing department, up to 100 employees
and does advertising in print media.
Finally, let's look at the psychographic of a customer. Understanding this is most
interesting. What things are important to your customer? What are their hobbies
and interests, are they active, are they status seekers, what is their lifestyle,
are they conservative or liberal, are they sports enthusiasts, are they environmentally
conscious, socially responsible, trendy, fashionconscious, fun seeking, family oriented,
thrill seekers, the list goes on.
For example, a high-end maternity shop would be looking for fashionconscious, trendy
women, who want to look good while they are pregnant and don't mind spending money
doing so. They still want to be comfortable and are possibly status seekers.
If your target market is other businesses, do they know they need your help, are
they open to help, what is their business style, are they innovative, are they conservative,
do they belong to trade associations, what is their management style, what other
outside services may they use to run their company?
For example, a consultant may be looking for a business owners who know they need
help and are willing to pay for good help that will get them results. There target
market is willing to learn, has a complimentary management and business style to
the consultant.
Now that you have a clear picture painted of who your target market is, you can
now start to make important marketing decisions — branding, packaging, pricing,
marketing messages, where to promote and/or advertise your business, etc.
Going through this exercise of clearly defining the target market is critical to
a business's success.
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Great Networking Events to Attend
Meet fellow professionals and make new connections
Networking events are a great way to market your business by making connections
with other business owners and multiplying your contacts.
Here are some great networking events to attend this month:
NewBCI: This exciting speed networking event is
one-of-a-kind and a must attend.
2nd and 4th Thursday morning every month, Check-in 7-7:30 a.m., event starts at 7:30-9:30.
2nd Thursday is held at Hylands Golf Course, 9650 Sheridan Blvd., Westminster.
4th Thursday is held at Radisson Hotel, 3200 S. Parker Rd., Aurora.- To register and for more information, visit: www.newbci.com
South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce—Business Night at the Arapahoe County
Fair: There's going to be a PIG at the County Fair!
The Chamber presents a P.I.G.— Pretty Important Gathering
at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds on July 21 from 5 to 10 p.m. Enjoy a pig roast
dinner in the Chamber tent, Country Western Dancing lessons, Fireworks and much
more.- To register and for more information, visit: www.bestchamber.com
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