How to find your perfect customer

Today’s post comes from Claire Hughes of Handmade Horizons.

You can grab Claire’s latest FREE ebook for Mums Who Make by clicking here.

Hands up who is excited about 2013? I know I am! Chances are you started January with head full of exciting plans for your business, which you couldn’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 2013!

Claire is a marketing specialist with over ten year’s experience in online retail. Get yourself a copy of Claire’s latest FREE ebook for Mums Who Make by clicking here.

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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