Do you REALLY know who your target customer is?

Today I’m welcoming back guest writer Claire Hughes of Handmade Horizons. You can read more about Claire (and her fab tips for combining business with small kids) in her post from last week – Growing a business with kids: 5 things I learned in 2011.

Hands-up who’s excited about the start of 2012? I know I am! Chances are you’ve started back at work with a head full of exciting plans for your business, which you can’t wait to get started on.

But if there’s one thing I’d urge you to do before you get stuck into the day-to-day, it’s to have a fresh look at who your target customer is.

If you’ve just started a business or have been trading for a while, you may think you already have a pretty good idea who your target customer is. Perhaps you’d describe them like this:

- “Women who live in the UK and like buying jewellery”
- “Busy mums with kids who live at home”
- “Small businesses who need help with their accounts”

If so – sorry to break it to you, but you’ve got some work to do! Why? These are just too broad.

Imagine for a second how many women who live in the UK like buying jewellery. Hmmmmm……most of them, wouldn’t you say? How on earth are you ever going to reach all of them? And when you do, what are you going to say? Isn’t there a big difference between the trendy teenager who likes wearing contemporary silver jewellery, and the Grandma who prefers a classic string of pearls?

You may have heard the expression “If you’re not talking to someone, you’re talking to no-one”. Or maybe I just made that up! Either way, it’s true. Unless you have a really clear picture in your head of who you’re talking to when you’re working on your business, you’re going to be missing the mark.

This goes for everything – from writing your website copy, to deciding which products to develop. From designing your new business cards, to deciding where to advertise. If finding – and delighting – customers is your aim (and I’m guessing it is) – you need to get down to the nitty-gritty detail and work out exactly who your target customer is.

Not just where they live, or how old they are. What do they read, watch, wear? What are their wants, their desires, their needs? Who do they listen to when deciding what products and services to buy, what are their trigger points?

If you’re wondering how on earth you can find all this out – the best way to start is to ask! Could you take a favourite customer out for lunch, or arrange a call? Send out a survey? Invest some time into getting to know and understand your customers, and build your profile from there.

If you’re just starting out and don’t have an established customer base – don’t let that stop you! Use your imagination, and create your dream customer from scratch. Then let her guide you as you take decisions about your business, and have a fantastic 2012!

Claire is a marketing specialist with over ten year’s experience in online retail. She offers free tips and advice to creative women at Make, Do & Sell (www.makedoandsell.com), and is co-creator of the Handmade Horizons marketing e-course, which starts THIS MONDAY – January 16th.

Understanding your customers is just one of the topics covered in the exciting eight week program – to find out more about the course and to grab some FREE training materials, visit www.handmadehorizons.com.

Tagged as: marketing, target customer