Do you know the two most important rules in business? 

American business magnate, Warren Buffett’s, thoughts were:

“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.”

Well, as a business owner in the current pandemic and the resulting economic situation, now more than ever, you will have to be mindful of how you spend money. After all, no one can afford to lose money.

Globally, large corporations are feeling the impact of the economic ramifications of COVID-19, so much more so are small businesses.  It is truly a time when exacting consideration must be given to how you spend your capital because every dime does count.

Naturally, you don’t have the cash flow or disposable spend to pump money into targeting the wrong audience. So the shrewd thing to do would be to have your money spent on marketing efforts that actually work for your business. Directing your advertising to “anyone interested in your service” is too general and is less likely to yield the profits you need.  

That’s where digital marketing provides great value.  Identifying and targeting the group of people at whom you would like to aim your communication (target audience) and selecting the most effective interactive tool is a necessary process if you want your marketing strategy to work. 

Whether you’ve allocated a substantial or small budget, your advertising must connect with the right audience, resonate with their pain points, and ultimately provide a solution.

The truth is most of the stuff you’ve been taught about digital marketing doesn’t adequately delve into the full story. It’s not just about how many people you reach with your ads, generating traffic to your site, or even the latest marketing hacks.  Before you start thinking about all of that, you need to do this one thing, as nothing else matters if you can’t nail this:

You must know your customers intimately. Who are your Dream Buyers?

Here are four practical applications for identifying and connecting with the right target audience.

Understand and Identify Your Dream Buyer

Deciding who you want to target is the first step. You can use your customer base to start; single out the customers that bring you the most business.  As you do, try to answer the following questions about their demographics, psychographics, and geography:

• What is the age, gender, occupation, and income of these customers?
• Where do they live (rural or urban areas and also country if applicable)?
• Can you identify their values, interests, or lifestyles?

Using these responses, you can then create a dream buyer or buyer persona, or possibly a few—fictional representations of your targeted audience.  For example, your dream buyer may be a single, male, 30-year-old fitness trainer who loves DIY projects. 

The objective is to direct your advertising to the persona(s) you’ve created, someone your product or service will best fit.  You may be wondering if this doesn’t restrict your reach, the fact is no business can afford to advertise to ‘everyone’. 

By focusing on a niche market, companies large and small can promote effectively. Thus, converting their buyer personas into actual customers, people who acknowledge that your brand is the best fit for them and will make a purchase, so you get “more bang” for your digital marketing buck.

Get to Know Your Audience

Knowing someone’s age and gender isn’t enough. It’s a start and your competitors are doing this bare minimum, so it’s still best to at least match their data. But, once you’ve identified an audience, you need to go deeper. Like, much deeper.

The next step is to uncover your customers’ deepest and most primal desires. Remember, the goal is to offer a solution to your audience’s pain point.  So, you need to delve into their fears, dreams, hopes, and wishes. This is the only way to share content tailored to their needs.        

To do this, you’ll need to acquire information.  There are several ways to go about accessing it.  You can use Facebook Audience Insights if you’ve had ads featured on the platform.  The tool will alert you to the behavioural patterns and demographics of the people who interact with your brand.

Another option is to use your social media channels to “sound out” your viewers. Use Facebook, Instagram, or your website, especially if you get a lot of traction on the latter, to invite discussion.  Pose a question that relates to the benefits of your product or services. You can even offer a small incentive to encourage responses.  Creating an email list and asking your current customers for feedback on your product or service is another useful technique.

Whichever method(s) you employ, the responses to the questions can guide you in what products or services to invest time and money further.  The data may even steer you into a profitable off-shoot and ultimately convert your audience into actual customers.  

If you’re unsure of what questions to pose, there are numerous tools on the web to guide you.

Use Your Audience

That subtitle may be off-putting, but the idea is to use the information you’ve acquired from your research. Don’t let it sit there.  Keep in mind the number one rule according to Buffet: do not lose money.  And, with customers demanding personalised, relevant content, you’re going to have to reach them.  Use the data you’ve gathered to create content that solves the challenges they have identified. 

It’s equally vital that you go to where your customers are.  Once you’ve noted your target audience, pinpoint which social platform they’re on.  It would be futile to showcase your products or services on Pinterest when your customers are on Instagram.

Also, you want your message to be received without distraction or detractors.  So, be sure to maintain authenticity and relatability.  While you must retain your brand’s voice, you will need to shape the tone of your message to match your audience and the platform you’re using.  For example, on Instagram, keep your posts friendly, upbeat, and straightforward. However, if LinkedIn is one of your social media tools, adopt a formal and informative tone.

Check Out the Competition

Admitting you have competition does your brand no disservice, but ignoring that you do, will eventually.  Examining your competitor can prove to be beneficial, not to mention profitable.

Take a look at what your competition is doing.  It will provide you with insight into your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Being attune to who your competitors are targeting and the responses they’re receiving can show you what works and what doesn’t, especially if your target audiences are similar. Through their errors, your brand can develop a more viable strategy.

It’s never a good time to lose money.  Even more so, in our current climate, you should aim to maximise your spend.  Now is an excellent time to review your digital marketing activity to ensure you’re reaching the right audience.

Yello is here to help.  Our team of marketers and certified Google and Facebook experts and Social Media experts are here to help you navigate not only the evolving digital marketing landscape but also marketing in the current social and economic reality. 

Access support with a Complete-Done-4-U Service.

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Sources: Inc., ispeaksocial, Composely.com and ThriveHive