Are you just starting your business? Before you proceed, answer this question: who is your target audience?
Your answer will affect nearly everything your business does, from its marketing strategy to its prices.
The funny thing is that a lot of first-time business owners don’t identify their target audience. They want to cast a wide net; they want their business to appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, the scattershot approach usually doesn’t work. Why not?
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Let’s take a small cleaning business as an example. Of course, as the owner, you want to have as wide a client base as possible. But look around your community. Which of the following people would be likely to hire a cleaning service?
Families with kids in school
Single professionals, no kids
Seniors on a fixed income
Married couples with disposable income
Single-parent families
Retired couples with disposable income
On this list, there are ones whose financial state at present does not allow them to hire out housecleaning—no matter how much they’d like to. You be better off focusing your marketing (and adjusting your prices) for the single professionals, married couples, and seniors who have disposable income.
That’s the first step in finding your target audience.
Now, you need to think like your target audience. Why might they be interested in your housecleaning service? They may not have the time or energy to keep the house clean. They may not be physically able to do heavy, repetitive work. They may prefer to have someone else do the housecleaning dirty work. (And who wouldn’t?)
Give it some more thought. What would these people be motivated by? The appearance of a clean house? The health benefits of a clean house? In other words, why should they want your product or service? What will it do for them?
Now, you need to do your research. Use the Internet, social media, even industry publications—and don’t forget about outright asking people for their opinion. Try to find out what your target audience likes and dislikes. Where do they get their information—the Internet, the newspaper, the bulletin board at the local grocery store?
Yes, research takes time, and it may not seem like it’s directly relating to your business. But you need this information.
Now you know who your target audience is, where there are likely to pick up information, and what might motivate them to use your business. It’s unlikely that you’re the only cleaning business in town, so you need to stand out as different.
What makes you unique? Do you offer exceptional customer service? Use only organic, earth-friendly cleaning products? Make house calls on short-notice? Whatever it is, make it the cornerstone of your marketing message. Then put it all together. You may want to craft individual pitches for eco-conscious moms, harried single-career people, and everyone else in your target audience subgroups. Closely related to your target audience is your business niche.
We’ll talk about that in our next post, so stay tuned. When planning a new business, don’t forget the IT! Contact TechSperts Services for a consultation today!
