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Posted on Tue, 12/6/2011 - 01:22 PM by
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Do you really know your ideal customer?
Over the next few weeks, as we head towards 2012, I want to get you thinking about your business in a new/fresh way. I’m going to ask a single question in each post — but I’m warning you, these aren’t slam dunk questions. I’m hopeful that as you ponder my question — it will give you some ideas for making 2012 a break out year for your organization. If nothing else — this exercise should fine tune some of your marketing efforts. Who is your ideal customer? One of the biggest mistakes most businesses make is that they cast too wide a net, when it comes to prospecting. Not all money on the table is good money. We’ve all had a bad customer. But if we’re really honest, we’ll admit that they weren’t a bad customer. They were just bad for us. Assuming you have a finite marketing budget or that you still haven’t figured out how to extend the day past 24 hours — you have to make some choices. So why not target the very best possible customers? Your intentional marketing efforts should be laser focused on those people/companies who are ideally suited to benefit the most from your offerings AND bring you the best benefit (profits, repeat business, referrals, longevity etc.) back to your organization. Are you running around like Chicken Little, trying to make sure that everyone and anyone knows about your business? Do you spend marketing dollars on long shots and Hail Mary passes? If you are — stop it. Now. Instead, invest that energy into discovering who your best customer is. Describe them. Be able to tell me what matters to them and how they get their kicks. Know what they drive and why they chose it. When they go to a restaurant, do they pay attention to the fat content of the offerings, the prices or if there’s a 16 z steak on the menu? Once you really know who they are — you’ll know how you can help them. Talk to them about it. Help them a little so they get to know you before you ask them to buy. Tell them stories of how you’ve helped other people. In other words — market to your best customers in a way that creates trust and familiarity. have you noticed how your best customers end up being your friends? That should tell you something, shouldn’t it? Unless you have an unlimited marketing budget and time on your hands – you can’t afford to waste one minute or one dollar on anyone who isn’t ideal. So figure out who that is…. and stay focused on the people/companies you can help the most.  Related posts: MORE NEWS FROM DREWS MARKETING MINUTEAre you falling behind when it comes to mobile?I think it is fascinating in a “I don’t get it” sort of way. We all know that mobile is where digital is headed. We’ve all repeated the “by 2015, the #1 way we will access the internet is through our smart phones” and yet… it seems like most people are lollygagging along when it comes to getting onto the mobile train. Going viral = out of your controlIt seems like one of the goals I hear more and more is… “and we want it to go viral.” I translate that to mean — we want a lot of people to see it. 9 Keys to Wicked Awesome Landing PagesNote from Drew: Every once in awhile I like to open up the blog to a guest with a depth of expertise that I think you’ll benefit from. Here’s Jason Well’s take on landing pages. What can you learn from a small town?Turns out, quite a bit. The whole concept of having a marketplace is blurry today. It used to be — you sold stuff to your neighbors because they were the only ones close enough to buy from you. But today the world is one “global small town” where all your customers can talk directly to e... What is the next step?That’s the question you should ask yourself as you create any marketing piece. ”What is the next step I want the prospect to take?” RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSWhat If Your Customers Could Talk to Your CRMI spend a lot of time talking to and about the stuff that we do to make it work now. So sometimes it’s a real treat to get to talk to someone that’s so far out ahead of most of us in their thinking that you pretty much just listen with your mouth open when they talk. (I would put my conversati... Who Doesn’t Need Great Free Stuff?Next week is National Small Business Week in the United States and to help celebrate all things small business I’m holding a live webcast where, among other things, I’m going to give a number of lucky participants some awesome business tools like: A copy of Premise Landing Page Softwa... 5 Reasons Why Landing Pages Are a MustOnline marketers have used the term “landing page” for many years to describe a sales tactic focused on getting people to take one, specific action. Today, landing pages have simply become a required element in the marketing toolbox for every imaginable business, including local brick and mort... SBSM Flashback: May 2011For those of you who are new SBSM readers & subscribers, here’s a list of noteworthy posts you probably missed from one year ago. I try to put together a post like this each month to introduce new readers to old content that might be worth reading. Your ValueElectricity is free, but we pay energy companies to harness it. Water is free, but we pay for the privilege of filtering. Air is free, but we pay for the solution of conditioning it for summers in our homes. Natural gas is free, but we pay for the importance of safety in its use. Oil is free, but we... |
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