Finding Your Ideal Client
This week we look at where you might find your ideal customer and some of the resources you can utilize to make sure it is in fact the right place.
First off - you need to determine where your ideal client hangs out and spends their time. Similar to doing market research to know who uses your products and services, having the information on who’s on what platform helps you in building your marketing strategy on how to engage with them. Having a complete picture ensures your brand is present in the correct channels and your message will reach them. There are many great resources that can give you demographic data and most of this is available for free. Sprout Social is a great place to start. It takes a look at the major social networks and breaks down the users by age, gender, geography, and even income.
Facebook ranks as the second most popular platform, right behind YouTube. Armed with that information alone, you might decide it is a good idea to create a targeted Facebook group. But what if your market research shows your target customer is a 16-year-old girl? Pew Research shows that 51% in the age range 13-17 are on Facebook. So that seems a good place to start, but don’t stop there. The same report (available on Sprout Social) shows that 72% in that age range are on Instagram daily and of that 53% are female. Maybe Instagram might be better you are thinking. Keep digging. The report shows 85% of 13-17-year-olds are on YouTube multiple times a day and of those 68% are female. So perhaps the best move to connect with your customer would be to create YouTube content that you can repurpose in other places.
What about income demographics? If your product or service is a higher-ticket item, you may want to make sure your marketing is hitting people with a certain level of disposable income. That data is also easily accessed. For example, of Pinterest users, more than 41% report an income of more than $75,000 a year. But you can't take that as an indicator if your target market is male and earns 75K a year. This is because only 15% of Pinterest’s audience is male. So you can see you have to have a complete picture before investing your time and resources into a platform.
It is a lot easier to connect with your ideal customer if you know where they are, so always start with the research.
Using social networks to share your content is not the only place to find your ideal customer. Look to fan groups, did you know that the Golden Retriever Club on Facebook has nearly 300,000 members? If you make a pet product, that might be good ground for cultivating ambassadors. Look at forums online, people who are passionate about home theater most likely participate regularly on the AV forum. Networking groups are also great places to connect with your ideal customer, especially smaller focused ones, like a working moms group. The more you can drill it down, the better connections you will be able to make and turn those connections into long-lasting customers.
As the owner of Cascade Creative Group, Lindsay has been helping companies for more than 20 years find their message, execute it through the right channels and create influence with their ideal customer and within their industry. Our goal is to not only help companies get their message out but to create influence for the brand with their target market and within the industry. We guide clients step-by-step to craft a crystal clear message and a complete communications plan that will build momentum and get results. If you need help with your brand message, public relations, or social media strategy, schedule a free strategy call today.