Your clients are the people that fund your bankroll. You have to know who they are and how they think if you want to tailor your business to them. Not only can this give you insight on where to spend your advertising dollars, but knowing your clients will also help you be more accessible to them, and in an age when time is in short supply, convenience is key. Here, we’ll look at a few ways you can better understand the people who make your business a success.
Meet the competition first
Before you compile a client profile, do some recon on the competition. Choose two or three businesses that offer the same products or services. Your competitive analysis can include marketing, products, pricing, and personnel. SquareUp also suggests looking at secondary and tertiary competitors. Your findings can give you insight into areas where you may need to increase attention, such as online interactions, or ideas on supplemental services your clients want.
Client profiling
Defining your client base means paying close attention to their personal interests, habits, and priorities.
First, determine where they are. You’ll want to know specifics so that you can understand their daily, weekly, and monthly patterns. For example, knowing your clients spend time reading news blogs and drinking coffee isn’t enough — refine this information to include the particular news blogs they read and what coffee shops they frequent.
Another important aspect of your clients that you should know is how they get information about your offerings. Do they use Google? Come in off the street? Follow their favorite businesses on social media? You should meet them where they seek you out. Evaluate your website to ensure you’re visible, add eye-catching banners or displays to your front entrance, or create targeted social media and Google ads. Wordstream notes that “snappy, memorable taglines” are great ways to grab attention online.
One of the most crucial pieces of the profile will be your clients’ challenges. Provide services that solve their problems and they’ll come back again and again. Like everyone else, your patrons are short on time and anything that gives it back and takes away frustrations is valuable. Duct Tape Marketing asserts that one place to look when trying to determine common problems is your reviews. You might notice a theme, such as “this company did the work quickly…” or “Their designs were super creative and their team was very responsive…” You can use this data to ascertain what it is they want and why.
Finally, determine their budget. People who shop at Walmart and buy store-brand water are likely more money-conscious than those who buy their necessities at the mall and drink Perrier. Likewise, larger companies will have a larger budget for building renovations or legal council, while smaller companies will look for more affordable alternatives. This insight can help you compile a listing of products and services that appeal to each potential client, which will keep them from scouring the competition.
The bottom line: do your research, and do it well. Failure to be thorough can lead to a marketing disaster and hordes of dissatisfied customers (remember New Coke?). Your clients know what they want, and it’s up to you to give it to them. The only way to do this is to understand them and then cater to and anticipate their needs.
Article by Marissa Perez of BusinessPOP.
