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For your marketing message to be really powerful and effective, it needs to be very targeted and specific. You’ll want to define who the ideal prospects are who could most benefit from your products and services, and include that in your message. You’ll also want to really understand their most pressing issues and challenges so that you can demonstrate that you provide targeted solutions to their problems.
Here are three steps you can take to target your marketing message more specifically:
1. Define your target market
When you started your business and wrote your business plan, you spent some time defining your target market. Now is the time to be really clear about who this target group is that you want to attract. Define who they are, where they work, where they live, what they read, how old they are, what groups they belong to, what magazines they read, and how much they earn. Be as specific as possible.
2. Create a profile of your ideal client
It’s helpful to imagine your message will attract one specific person. Be clear on their specific characteristics, key challenges, problems, frustrations, desires and needs. For example, a professional service provider specializing in career transition might market directly to a female executive age 45 who lives in New York, earns $150,000 or more a year, is on the verge of burnout, wants out of her job, and is looking for solutions to manage stress or leave her job, belongs to the local executive women’s network, and reads Executive Women Magazine. You get the idea. You need to be very clear and specific about who your ideal prospect is. Have this profile handy whenever you write a talk, an article or a blog post so that you can write or speak directly to that person using words that will appeal specifically to them.
3. Understand the problems and challenges in your niche market
Get to know the people in your defined market. Attend networking events, workshops and conferences. Go online to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, go to blogs, forums, and groups like Google groups or Yahoo groups that have interactive mailing lists. Do some market research. Find out about their greatest needs and challenges, their most pressing problems, and their biggest frustrations. If you don’t know, ask them for feedback by email or phone, take them to lunch, or conduct a survey.
Do these three things so that your message will carry more impact and will resonate with the specific clients you most want to attract. Incorporate your research into all of your marketing messages so that they will be more targeted and powerful.
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Jan Marie, I think your advice is spot on!
It seems so simple, yet there’s that pull of “I want to help everyone,” or “I don’t want to limit who I work with,” or “What if my target market is too narrow?” It can really take some guts to clearly define a target market and stick to it!
Clearly defining the points you mention are the keys to creating a sales cycle of offerings that lead to revenue/profits. Offerings of various levels of content and price points meet the potential client where he or she is at, and builds trust and credibility.
But it all starts with knowing who you serve, where to find that person, what he/she needs, and then creating a conversation that leads to your sales cycle.
Hi Amy,
You’re right. Many people want to help everyone. Helping professionals in particular have that desire to help all people. Targeting your marketing is just one way to refine your message to who you can help the most. Other people will still find you and be attracted to your message.
I like your suggestion about creating a conversation around someone’s needs. That’s what it’s all about!