Are you struggling to find the right customers? Perhaps you’re marketing to the wrong audience.
Online Content 101: The only audience you should be writing for on your website, blogs and social media is your customers. Tell your customers what they want to hear. Give them what they want. But first be sure that you understand your target market. Once you have it sussed you can get to writing content which will lure the customers you want to your business’s front door.
So how do you figure out who your target market is (this is target audience analysis in marketing speak)? Here’s a fun and simple way to do it. Create a personality to represent your ideal customer, the type of person you’d like to do business with. For example, say your business is financial management and you want to attract young, successful women who like to spend money:
She is a young woman aged 25. She loves going out with her friends. She is easy going and friendly. She is single and enjoying it but would eventually like to settle down with someone. She loves shopping, especially for stylish outfits, accessories and tech gadgets. Her favourite thing to do is treat herself to spa weekends when she has enough time or money to do so. Her biggest issue in life is making her salary meet her lifestyle. She’s a bit reckless with her money and hates it when this is pointed out to her. She is young and just having fun; but in the back of her mind she knows she should be saving for the future. (Elaborate as much as you like to make her believable).
Now that you have a clear picture, an actual person to visualise, you can start writing your marketing content for her. You can begin to imagine her desires, her needs, her problems. You can write about how you can help her manage her budget more easily, enjoy more peace of mind and still have loads of fun – if only she was using your products and services.
Here are the 3 elements you should take into consideration when writing for your ideal customer:
- Purpose – You don’t truly know your ideal customer until you have done the research. Find out everything there is to know about this person. What does she like and dislike? Where does she spend her money? What are her interests? What are her challenges in life? How can you address those challenges with your service or product?
Once you have gathered all your information, set out to build a strategic online campaign to attract your ideal customer. It may be that you need to create a landing page highlighting a special product or service that you know this person wants. And then use blogs, emails and social media to gently steer her to the landing page. The point is you need to have a plan for a set of touchpoints in this specific customer’s journey to help lead her to your front door.
Never do this: Impulsively post on your business Facebook page and LinkedIn in the hopes of attracting your customers.
Rather invest in a professional online content marketing service to assist you with a plan and write the copy for you. This way you will see a return on your investment.
- Tone – Think about how this person speaks. What ‘language’ will she take notice of, listen to, feel comfortable with and respond to most. For example: my young, born-to-shop-and-have-fun, 25-year-old woman would very likely speak in an upbeat and informal manner while using some cool slang for good measure. I would write in exactly that tone of voice. I would speak to her directly.
Never do this: Write copy in your industry’s lingo or try to look professional by writing too stiffly.
Unless your ideal customer is someone in your line of business who understands and appreciates industry-speak, always, always write in your customer’s language.
- Offering – Be sure to offer your ideal customers exactly what they want. For example: as a financial management business wanting to attract young women with great earning potential, I would write a campaign based only on the services that will benefit her. I would create landing pages, blogs, social media posts, email campaigns and newsletters promoting just these services. I will write in her ‘language’ and provide benefits that suit her situation.
Never do this: Write about all your services in your targeted campaign, even the ones that your ideal customer won’t be interested in, just because you think she may become interested.
You will lose her by doing this. Online, most people have an extremely short attention span. Give your target audience exactly what they want and no more.
Does it excite you to think about attracting the ideal customers to your business? We can help you plan and produce great content for your target market and bring their business to your door.