Who’s your ideal customer? Seems like an easy question to answer, right? One who buys your product.
In many ways the concept of the ideal customer is simple. As with most things, however, the devil is in the details. Everyone who buys your product is, by virtue of having bought it, an ideal customer. True.
But how do you know who’s going to buy?
That’s what makes it. Knowing the person who will buy, the person who wants your product, even sight-unseen. Not just anyone fits that criteria. The temptation to try and sell your product to anyone and everyone can waste valuable resources — even as the failure to market specifically to the person who will buy your product has the potential to lose you even more business.
Diluted, generalized marketing leads to missed opportunities.
The Ideal Customer
While it would be nice, anyone and everyone are not your target audience. In a perfect world … yes, everyone would be an equally likely customer.
But they’re not.
In the same way you yourself don’t buy each and every thing you see, neither does anyone else. But each and every thing you see does, in fact, get bought. By someone. Everything in the world has an ideal customer. Market properly to that customer and that, in turn, leads to sales.
Wouldn’t it be nice, then, to know who your ideal customers are?
You Can
When you know who you’re selling to you can adjust your pitch accordingly. Even if you’re selling a commodity, like toilet paper, you still have an ideal customer. A buyer who most closely aligns with your product. Maybe it’s the brand, maybe it’s some quality of the paper, the sheet count — whatever it is, that type of customer will fit a profile, will match other customers like them with similar interests, and can therefore be reached with the right messaging.
Only … how do you identify them?
Knowing your customer is about understanding what problem you’re solving, knowing who has that problem, and knowing whether they’re interested in your product to solve it. An ideal customer is one who wants your product.
Taking the time to create a picture of that customer is therefore a key to your success.
Discovery
A good place to start is by asking yourself questions. Use the answers to create an example of your ideal customer, someone who’s a perfect match for your product or service, is interested in the sort of products or services you sell, and has a need for them. Your ideal customer seeks you out, buys from you — in short, they love what you provide. They tell their friends and are highly interested in buying from you again.
Knowing your ideal customer, you can craft your marketing to effectively reach them. If you’ve nailed their profile, the corresponding connection will be impossible to resist. They’ll flock to your product.
Outside of doing your own, self-survey to imagine the ideal customer, how else can you establish those characteristics?
There are many ways to go about it. One-on-one interviews with potential customers, social media posts where you ask for feedback, competitor reviews (your competitors are honestly some of your best allies, because they’re doing a lot of the market research for you), polls, survey software, emails … the limits are really only:
- Your imagination.
- How much effort you’re willing to put in.
See what people are saying about products like yours, then kick it up a notch. Raise your game, address the frustrations you discover, the pain points, meet the needs that are being expressed, fulfill their wishes and you’re sure to have a hit.
Make sure you’re not designing or, especially, selling from your perspective only. You may, in fact, be an example of the ideal customer for your product, but be sure to gather other views. And listen to them. Make yourself be objective. Your own bias can skew the image you’re creating, and that’s the last thing you want.
Is there anyone out there that really wants your product? Just because you do is not criteria enough for a sound business.
Elevate Your Game
Now that you have them identified, you should always be speaking to your ideal customer. In your listing, in your marketing, in your emails, if you go to trade shows, if you’re putting ads on Google, posters in a retail window — always. They are your target audience, and with their characteristics figured out you’re no longer selling to “everyone”.
It reduces friction. Greases the funnel, from discovery to the sale. Sure, you’ll take anyone who wants to buy, and you’ll certainly get the random outliers, those that don’t fit your ideal, but the game is to discover who your ideal customer is and pour your efforts into reaching them.
They’re the ones who will buy.
They’re your potential customers.
Know them, speak to them, and watch your business soar.
To your success.
Your ManageByStats Team
