Who is your ideal client?
That seems like such an easy question, and yet many businesses struggle with a clear definition. Those that want to appeal to a broad audience may say that their ideal client is “anybody with a pulse”. Others who understand that it’s important to identify a specific niche will answer with demographics, such as “women aged 35-60 who have kids and make over $100K a year”. While this is a little better, the more that you know about your ideal client the better you’ll be able to serve them – which will greatly improve your success.
Here’s what you need to know about your clients to better serve them:
Goals and Motivation. Understanding your clients’ long-term goals gives you insight into what they want out of life and how they define success. You can then tailor your products or services – and your marketing message – to help them achieve those goals.
Problems and Challenges. Whenever we buy a product or service, we are trying to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. Normally, we have a very specific idea of how to solve the problem and look for a product or service that can provide that particular solution. For example, if you are struggling with your sales and marketing strategy for your restaurant, most likely you would look for a sales coach that specializes in restaurants rather than a business coach that just helps you “improve your business”.
Demographics. Demographics are an important part of understanding your ideal client. If you are a consumer-based business, in addition to age and income, you might want to look at marital status, whether they own their home, if they have kids, own a car etc.. If your client runs a business, you’ll need to know what industries you serve, number of employees, annual revenue, etc. The more information you have, the better.
Information Sources. Once you’ve been able to identify their problems (and solutions) and their demographics, the next step is to find out where they get their information. In other words, how do they go about researching companies that can help solve their problem? What do they read and/or listen to? Do referrals play an important role in their decision-making process? Do they prefer reading or watching video? The key is to find out how they get their information so that you can tailor your marketing approach so they can find you exactly where they are looking in the format that they prefer.
Niche Down. Even armed with all this information about their ideal clients, many businesses are afraid to commit to a narrow definition of who they serve, thinking that they are limiting their pool of potential customers – when, in fact, the opposite is true. By clearly and succinctly defining your ideal client, you will be able to speak directly to them, addressing their specific challenges and the solutions that you provide. The beauty of this is that others will be listening into that conversation and will be able to extrapolate to other problems that you may be able to solve. For example, if you have identified your ideal client as a 45-60 year old woman who is looking for an anti-aging skin care solution, someone listening into your conversation about one of their concerns being dry skin may say to themselves “I’m not looking for an anti-aging solution, but I do have rosacea and their product may help my dry skin”. You’ve just expanded your reach, without having to appeal to a larger, more general audience!
Understanding your ideal client is key to your success, and we’re here to help. Give us a call at 949-888-7837 or email us at sales@wearableimaging.com to schedule a complimentary strategy session.
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