An online business will only be successful if it targets the right people. To have clients lining up, you need to make sure they know about you and what you’re offering. In other words, you should be targeting the exact people who want to do business with you – your demographic client base.
But, that is easier said than done. With billions of people online every single day, how could you possibly find and target the exact people who would want to pay for what you have to offer?
Finding your target clients and customers
Finding and reaching your target audience will involve:
Product- or service-specific demographics – If you have a unique product or service that can only be purchased by a small and unique client base, then you’ll have an easier task when defining your target demographics. Of course, this will limit the number of services you can offer, but what if you’re the sole provider in a niche market? You may luck out and be able to set your own prices, since users won’t be able to find your product anywhere else. This is usually the way businesses with customized products or services operate – and they usually control the market prices.
Dealing with your current client base – Whether or not you already have a large client base, you can use them to find out who else wants or needs your services. Start by researching your current clients. Go through their characteristic attributes – like age, location, interests, hobbies, etc. – to get a better idea of who your target audience is. Once you have a clear picture of who’s buying from you, you can build on that persona and reach more people.
Your competitors’ client base – To find the exceptions or complements to your own client base, study your competitors’ client bases. Their customers will indicate what sorts of people aren’t coming to your website and why. Have a look at their characteristic attributes and find out what your competitors are offering to keep their customers loyal to them. If you can identify the different characteristics, you can then incorporate them into your improvement plans when you customize your services.
Reach out to people – One of the best ways of finding out who wants your services is by asking. Send out questionnaires via email or talk to people in the real world and ask them what it would take for them to do business with you. Make sure the questions you ask are targeted, while allowing the client to express in as much detail what it is they expect from you. Based on the answers, you can either:
- Modify your current products/services to meet these new, specific demands, or
- Target your current customers and continue to build on these relationships.
With this tip, though, you’ll need to know how to roll out your questionnaire or survey. If using email, be sure to make your subject line alluring. Offer some kind of incentive or reward for taking the survey. Make sure your email is opened and not redirected to users’ spam folders. To make this an effective campaign, you may need the help of an expert.
Google Analytics is your friend.
One of the best and absolutely free tools you can use to keep track of people who search for your products is Google Analytics. Incorporating this tool on your website will give you valuable insight into the characteristics of your visitors, including the keywords they used to find you, the pages they were most interested in, the time they spent on your pages, which country they’re in and which pages or websites they arrived from. Armed with this information, you can work on your site’s appearance, navigation and architecture so you can attract and convert more visitors.
Once you’ve compiled all the data and feedback from users, begin forming your target demographics. Once you know exactly who you should be reaching out to, take the next important steps.
- Work on your website to make it more appealing and informative.
- Create content and target keywords used by your target audience.
- Specifically address the problems your visitors are facing.
- Highlight your value proposition in a clear, bold way to entice users to purchase.
In short, knowing what your clients want before they arrive on your site will increase your chances of making a sale. If you still haven’t started targeting your customer base, now is the time to start.
