Do you REALLY know who your current customers are? Do you know what their interests are? Can you identify the websites they visit? Do know which online groups they belong to? Do you know what social media sites they visit the most? If you answer no to any of these questions, it’s OK. This is often a common mistake among small business owners. There are many reasons why building a solid understanding about your customers can help you optimize your online marketing strategy. Find below a list of the most common reasons:
1. Help you tailor your message based on their interests
Often times, small business owners define their target audience as “people interested in my products/services”. This is not realistic and too general. It would be impossible for you to target everybody.
However, if you do take the time and research your customers and understand their needs and wants, you can optimize your marketing efforts for a specific market. Therefore, your message will be more efficient and people would likely buy from you. This would equally apply for your offline and online marketing.
2. Show them that you care and join their conversation
Find out what websites and social media your customers are visiting. This might have a negative connotation and might sound like you are spying on your customers, but you’re not. You’re just trying to get a better understanding as to what their searching for and what products they like. You are also showing them that you care about them and want to be part of their immediate network.
Keep in mind, however, you do not want to follow them everywhere even if you know what website or groups they belong to.
3. Discover any opportunities to provide other services
Knowing what their needs are will help you identify and determine if there are any other products or services that you can offer them. For instance, if you are a website designer and you create a website for one of your customers, chances are that your customer will also need help with building traffic to his or her website. Therefore, by asking questions and understanding their needs you can suggest SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or online marketing services.
It’s crucial that you get into your customers’ heads and understand how they think and what their interests are. Be specific and know your target market. You will get a chance to better help your customers by providing other services and they will also appreciate it.
Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile!