Understanding why your customers buy from you is key to the success of your sales and marketing strategy.
There are many strategies and platforms available for you to choose from to market your product or service but getting the right one for your product and target market is vital.
First, you need to identify your target market
You need to be clear on who your target market are. Write it down and ensure that your target market are at the centre of your strategy:
- What is their demographic?
- What is their geographical location? (Where should you focus your marketing?)
- What industry or profession do they operate in? (Can you market in industry-specific publications or online platforms?)
- What are their main interests (for example, if you own a bike shop, the likelihood is that your target market enjoys being outdoors and keeping fit)
- Where does your target market shop or get their information from? (for example, is your target market younger and mostly on social media platforms like Instagram? Or are they professionals who network in industry-specific networking groups?)
Once you have identified your target market and have narrowed down where to find them, you now need to identify why they would want to buy from you?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What need does your product or service solve for your customer?
- What emotional response does your product or service give your customer? (How will it make them feel once they’ve purchased it?)
- Why should a customer buy a product or service from you instead of one of your competitors? (What do you offer that they don’t?)
- What makes your business stand out? (Do you have lots of great reviews you can share? Have you got great images or photography to bring your product or service to life?)
Once you’ve completed both exercises and identified both who and where your target market are, and why they would want to buy from you, you can put this information together and develop your marketing plan.
For Example.
If you own a cake business, baking and decorating bespoke celebration cakes, your target market will likely be local to you and will most likely find you by conducting an online search, so you will need to ensure that you can be found. Creating a Google My Business account is a great place to start. Put as much information on there as possible, with links to your website and social media pages and add photos and contact information.
Photos of beautifully decorated cakes will entice your target market, therefore social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest would be part of your marketing strategy.
You want your customers to feel excited, happy and delighted when they received their beautifully decorated cakes, so ensure that you ask every customer to complete a google review which you can then use in your marketing to improve your credibility. You could also ask customers to tag your business page into any social media post they make enjoying the cake.
A successful marketing strategy is tailoring your marketing materials and platforms to your target market and focusing specifically on their needs. If you want your customers to feel excited and happy when they receive one of your cakes, then use images or testimonials from previous customers enjoying your cakes in your marketing campaign.
Develop your Plan
Once you’ve decided on the methods to use, complete a monthly marketing schedule and plan ahead.
If your target market is active on social media, then regular posting on relevant social media platforms will increase your visibility, and you can check online for the best days and times to post on each platform.
Plan for any upcoming offers or promotions you might have, share tips or advice in a blog or film a short video. Tailoring your marketing messages in response to seasonal holidays, news or external changes in the environment will also help to keep you relevant.
This isn’t rocket science, attracting your customers doesn’t have to be difficult, it just needs a bit of research, planning and commitment to stick to the plan!
