Sorry… wrong person…

Have you ever received an email from someone and wondered why they sent it to you in the first place? The offer just doesn’t apply to you. Or, it could even be for something you are opposed to. For me, I tend to unsubscribe to people offering to teach me about Facebook ads. I had a bad experience with my account being shut down so now I have no interest… The people who send these kinds of messages are just wasting my time (and theirs).  

Understanding your audience

One of my pet peeves online is business owners who “spray and pray” without taking the time to really listen to their audience and provide value. The better you know your audience and can provide value – the easier it will be for them to know, like and trust you. And… that is the key to building a loyal community of clients who buy from you again and again.

While you may be able to make an educated guess, your understanding of your audience will improve if based on objective data gathered through feedback. 

Conduct a demographic analysis

Can you answer the following questions about your current customer base?

• How old are they?
• Where do they live?
• Male/Female?
• What is their title – what type of companies are they working for?
• What is their income level

The objective is to be able to create a “avatar client” so that you can look for more awesome clients that represent your community. One way to get the information is to go through your “best client’s” social media profiles and see what you can glean (more than you might think!)

Behaviors, Attitudes and Values

Now that you have a basic “snapshot” of your client – it’s time to dig deeper. What are they thinking? Here are a few ways to read your customer’s mind through research.

A data-collecting method you can use to go deeper is customer surveys. Surveys allow you to ask questions that yield specific information. For example, you can ask what they consider most important when making a purchase. 

Conduct your surveys in-house or outsource. You can do your surveys using tools like HubSpot for a relatively low cost. If you have the budget for it, you can outsource to an agency experienced in getting companies like yours valuable insights into the market. 

Another essential method for data gathering is social listening. Social listening means finding your target audience online and listening to their conversations to gain insights.

Look for online resources where your audience members are talking to each other. These could be things like social media groups, online forums, or comments on blogs or other content. Read what they’re saying to understand them better.

One way to “stalk” your audience is to simply follow your audience members online and do keyword searches. Connecting with prospects is a great way to get into their “bandwidth” and help build your know, like and trust factor.

A favorite trick of mine is to find books on Amazon about online marketing and then read the reviews. The reviews can tell you a lot about your audience’s struggles and the gaps in the current training materials.

The more time you spend learning about your audience, the better you will be able to meet their needs and provide value. People pay for value.

Action Steps:

✅ Visit three different communities online where your target audience is active and read through the comment histories. 

✅ Take notes on the language they use, their challenges, and other needs that stand out. 

Want more help developing the know like and trust factor with your audience? Check out the Why Me? 30 Day Action Planner. (If you complete the planner – you are eligible for $15 in Solo Biz Hacker credits)