Before you start marketing, locate your target.
By Roy Harryman
Blindfolded archery is a real sport. But it’s not too popular for reasons that are apparent.
Unfortunately, “blind” is the way many small business marketing campaigns are run.
And it’s understandable.
It’s easy to be reactive when you’re bombarded by advertising and marketing options on every side. Facebook and Instagram want your money. So does Google. And that agency down the street. And that “social media expert” your cousin knows.
So you start trying things. And more things. And failing. Then you throw up your hands in dismay.
If you shoot arrows blind, you’ll hit something. But probably not the target. A business I’m familiar with paid someone to “find” Facebook followers. It got them. But they lived in the Middle East (think Saudi Arabia) and the business was in the Midwest (think Kansas). And it installed flooring. Not quite a fit.
Any discussion of tactics and what works begins (and ends) with your marketing audience. They are the target. Our goal is to remove any barriers that prevent us from locating and understanding them.
A tale of two businesses
Let’s imagine a tidy town square in Middle City, Michigan. At 404 Main Street sits Mary Lou’s Scrapbooking Supply. Next door sits Reynolds Accounting. Should these businesses have an identical marketing strategy? I think you know the answer.
Mary Lou’s sells to an audience that’s overwhelmingly female and over 40. These customers’ interests revolve around their hobby of scrapbooking. Reynolds, on the other hand, has a more diverse clientele. It primarily serves business customers instead of traditional consumers. These two entities have different audiences requiring unique strategies. Instagram may be a great way to reach scrapbooking customers, but not necessarily business accounting prospects.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by options. But keep calm and maintain an open mind and a level head. Be leery of dogmatic assertions such as “Everyone’s doing this” and “No one does that anymore.” The key is finding the approach that works for you.
Before you spend time and money on marketing, you need to understand the habits of your buyers. You may think you already know this. But assumptions can be dangerous.
Instead of guessing, you need to ask the people in the know: your customers and prospects.
In general, there are two sets of data. One comes from a buyer profile. The other comes from a buyer persona.
Customer research helps you create an experience that gives clients that “Wow!” moment.
The profile
A buyer profile helps companies humanize their customers, turning an abstraction into a reality. It’s built using publicly available data or information obtained from customer surveys.
If you already have a storehouse of customer data, you’ve got a great start. Helpful information could include:
Age
How far they live from your business (if you are a brick-and-mortar company)
Income
Occupation
Gender and family status
How they heard about you
How long they’ve been doing business with you
What they tend to buy
How much they tend to spend
When they tend to buy
Their communication preferences (Email? Text? Social media?)
Don’t fill in generic blanks. You need to collect data that’s relevant to you.
So how do you get it? The simple answer is, “Ask.” One client of mine focuses on education. They asked class attendees to fill out surveys at every training. The participation rate was nearly 100%. The trainer received a wealth of insightful data about the people who were paying for its services.
Other options include:
Giving customers an incentive to provide the information (a discount, raffle or coupon, for example)
Handing customers a survey at every interaction
Sending a survey via email or text or putting it on your website (incentives help)
Let your creativity run wild. The sky is the limit.
The key is to collect, sort and use the data in your marketing. Don’t throw a pile of forms in a corner to collect dust. Every response is golden.
At the end of the day, you can use this data to create a humanized typical buyer of your services. For example:
“Andy is 47, lives 7 miles from our store and is married with 1.8 children. He shops here about 10 times a year and spends an average of $132 on each trip. He prefers communication by text and uses Facebook and LinkedIn for social media. He works full-time and is self-employed. His primary reason for shopping at our store is because we have a broad inventory and nearly always have the supplies he needs. Andy also values our extensive hours, being open 7 a.m.-7 p.m., six days per week.”
This information is critical in directing your marketing message and dollars.
Buyer persona
The buyer persona is a representative of your customers based on research about what they value and how they make purchasing decisions. A buyer persona cannot be developed using public surveys and sources. Instead, it requires personal, in-depth interaction with real buyers.
The creation of a buyer persona takes a similar approach to a journalist researching a topic. She would start by identifying people who have made recent purchases, then systematically contact them and actually speak with them in person or over the phone. Although email or texting may be easier, you’ll short circuit communication and leave important insights off the table.
Who should make the calls for your buyer personal research? That’s your call.
This is not a telemarketer reading a script. It’s a two-way, interactive conversation that has no wrong answers. The goal is to yield insights into the buyer’s decisions and why she chose you.
Often an objective third party can be helpful in securing these insights. If you have a personal relationship with the buyer, she may not be as forthcoming. In addition, the interviewer needs to be personable and comfortable conducting the interview. And they must have time to do it.
What does buyer persona research look like? Here’s an example using the fictitious entity of Remington Pre-Owned Vehicles in Sunbaked, Arizona.
How did you hear of Remington?
If someone told you about Remington’s, who was it and what did they have to say?
Had you been to our location before making this purchase?
How many auto dealerships did you visit before making a decision to purchase from Remington?
Did you seek vehicle options in other ways? For example, Facebook Marketplace, Craig’s List, etc.?
If so, what were those experiences like and why did you come to Remington?
When it comes to making a decision to buy an auto, what are you looking for in a dealership?
What do you want to avoid in a dealership?
Did you have a price range in mind?
Did you have a vehicle to trade in?
Please describe your experience buying a vehicle at Remington’s, from the moment you identified us as a location to the time you drove off the lot with your new car.
Did you require assistance with financing? What role, if any, did Remington’s play in this?
If so, how would you describe the financing process?
What was the most helpful thing Remington did during your buying process? How did that help?
Did Remington solve any problems for you?
Did Remington provide any extra value or follow up after the sale?
On a scale of 1 out of 10, how would you describe your experience purchasing from Remington (10 is best)?
What is something Remington’s could do better in the future?
Would you recommend Remington to a friend? Why or why not?
A face to face or telephone conversation is the gold standard in understanding why your customers choose you.
The questions your business needs to ask may be different. But the point is the same: When flooded with options, why do customers choose you? What needs did you meet? And how was their experience?
In addition to responding to predetermined questions, customers may answer questions you don’t ask. This may be the most important data you receive. Be ready to follow up and do not stick woodenly to the script.
The information gained from buyer persona interviews is invaluable and cannot be gleaned from anyone but your customers. Ideally, you’ll also talk to prospects who considered your firm but opted to go with a competitor. What can you learn from them? Plenty.
You’ll need to set a goal for a minimum number of interviews that is neither too small of a sample or an overwhelming impractical number. Then compile the information into an easily digestible report for yourself and anyone else inside your company who can benefit.
Don’t answer questions people aren’t asking
Buyer profiles and buyer personas help you to avoid answering questions people aren’t asking and selling products people don’t want to buy. They help you focus your message, money and time on an ideal prospect or customer.
Begin with the end in mind. Begin with your prospects and customers.
Roy Harryman is the principal of Roy Harryman Marketing Communications and helps small business and non-profits identify their ideal customers and members. In addition, he helps them understand their existing clientele better.