How To Identify Your Customers, and Reach Them

AKA, Marketing 101.

Being able to effectively reach the right people with targeted marketing messages in the places they spend the most of their time is at the heart of advertising.

By finding who your customers truly are, and where they spend most of their time you’re able to quickly parse out ineffective campaigns and create more meaningful messaging.

As a small business, here’s how you do that.

Step #1: Identify Your Customers

Who makes the buying decision when it comes to your product or service? A lot of small business owners make the mistake of confusing the users of their products with the buyers of their products.

Take men’s cologne for example.

If I were to sell men’s cologne, I might not target men with my marketing at all. Instead, I’d focus on women buying it for their partners. Then, when you’ve figured out that the buyer of your cologne isn’t actually men, but women looking for a gift for a special occasion you can target messaging that connects with her more effectively.

This is the same with a lot of purchasing decisions. The buyers of ice cream at your stand aren’t children (the users), but the the parents.

Go and talk to some of your current customers, and ask them why they buy from you vs. a competitor. Install a Facebook tracking pixel, and dive into your audience insights for detailed demographic information on your target. Conduct surveys, and nail down who your buyers are.

Step #2: Reaching Them

Once we’ve figured out who our buyers are, we can determine the best ways to reach them.

First, let’s start with the basics.

If we know our buyers are middle-aged women, we might go towards a site like Pinterest or Facebook. If our audience is 20 year old men, Facebook and Instagram might make sense (also, Snapchat — not listed).

Brainstorm other places they spend their time online, and focus your efforts there.

Also, think of some creative offline ways to target as well. If your customers are working mothers, finding some ways to get connections at daycare's could be incredibly beneficial.

If I’m selling pots and pans, I might make some connections with those in cooking communities. Even if they’re too small of a group to be my audience, it’s likely others in their circles will look to them when making a buying decision.

Figure out who your customers are and where they spend their time and you’ll soon be on the path to marketing success.