Last month we began to develop a target audience for your brand. If you missed it, check out the link here to review: Who the Heck is My Audience (Part 1).
This month we want to keep defining our target audience to increase revenue, sales, and create brand loyalty. Consumers have come to expect customizable and personalized products or services. When you create an account on Amazon, the algorithm begins to take note of what you are shopping for and makes customized suggestions based on your taste and interests. Why does Amazon invest in this technology? It leads to more sales, engages shoppers, and has created good feelings that Amazon is invested and interested in you.
Taking that personalization one step further, an effective strategy for marketing is presenting your specific products or service to particular people. You will save money on not advertising to the people who don’t need your brand, and it allows you to develop a relationship with that consumer resulting in brand loyalty.
Who needs your brand?
- What particular types of people buy your products or services: budget shoppers? High-end consumers? Farmers? Stay-at-home-moms?
- Where do they live/use your products: Miami? Branson? On the golf course? In their living rooms?
- What market sector do they reside in: Consumers? Engineers? Builders? Business or finance?
Continue to define your avatars with these niche markets.
Our last avatar was based on a pool builder who noticed their most frequent customers were married females with school-aged children. If we apply the niche concept above, we can further develop this avatar to “a high-end consumer with an annual household income of over $150k located in a 50-mile radius around your store.”
You’re an expert, so let’s show it.
Another determining factor in developing your target markets is to look at your expertise. Perhaps your business works with accountants? Does your company have first-hand knowledge and a track record of serving a specific geographical location?
When you can proudly say that your local business has been building pools for Pittsburgh Hoteliers for over five years, you have become an expert in that niche market. It gives you the credibility you may not have been playing to your advantage. Now you know to focus some of your ad campaigns (designs and copy) toward hotel owners in Pittsburg and the surrounding areas. You know how to speak to them using their problems as “pain points” and presenting yourself as the right solution.
Without narrowing down to a niche market, it would not be straightforward to know where to begin your marketing. You will also become well-known for the work you do in a specific market and grow the go-to business because of the expertise you have in that area.
Who are your competitors?
There may be other pool builders who serve affluent residential homeowners or hotel properties, but how are you unique? It could be that your service is outstanding, your products are warranted longer than usual, or you have an in-house water lab in your showroom. Whatever it is that makes your business stand out, be sure to promote that to your consumers. If you don’t have anything that makes you stand out, then you may be in the wrong market or not offering a specific enough solution for the market you have chosen.
What happens when you define your target audience?
When you start to pin down your target audience, you’ll be able to make smarter choices about where to spend your advertising dollars and what to present in your marketing campaigns. You’ll know who you are speaking to, what problems you are solving, and where to reach them. Consumers will look to your business for your expertise in your industry.
