Whether you’re a retailer or a service provider, every entrepreneur needs to have a solid grasp of what customers need and want. By knowing your target demographic’s problems, pain points, interests, and inclinations, you can better market your company and broaden your audience. Here are a few strategies to help you better understand your customer base:
Consider your niche
When your customers are shopping around for goods and services, it’s likely multiple factors will influence their decision-making process. According to the career development experts at Indeed.com, customers seek products and services that do more than fulfill a basic physical need. Typically, the purchase must also appeal to the customer’s psychology. For instance, if you produce artisan crafts, your product can give the customer pride in supporting a local craftsperson. The buyer may enjoy flaunting the exclusivity that comes with owning a one-of-a-kind handmade item. Similarly, if you have a bakery, your customers likely value your unique recipes and your skilled artistry, neither of which are available at a big-box store.
Therefore, consider what you do differently than the competition — is it customer service, customization, brand image, product quality, or something else? To understand where your company stands, it may help to investigate your competitors. See how they market and what customers enjoy about their products. Once you identify what sets your company apart from the rest, you can more effectively showcase your brand’s strengths to prospective buyers.
Ask your customers
If you’re having trouble pinpointing what makes your business stand out from the crowd, consider asking the customers who frequent your establishment. Whether conducted in-person, online, or by phone, surveys can offer fresh insights into what your customers need, want, and enjoy. You may be able to get more responses by offering an incentive, like a discount or product, for survey participants. Joe Benjamin, a contributor to AllBusiness and the director of sales at Upfront Analytics, explains you can even incentivize survey participation through gamification. This doesn’t have to be complicated — you could simply incorporate a market research question into a poll or quiz on your company’s social media outlets.
Make a customer profile
To better understand your customers, Benjamin suggests creating a customer profile. Essentially, this profile is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer. Factors like age, gender, income level, occupation, and beliefs may play a leading role in your customer’s purchasing decisions. Understanding these differences can help you guide your advertising and outreach efforts. You can even imagine you’re communicating directly to the fictional person in your customer profile. For instance, the language and imagery you use to market your product to stay-at-home moms with infants will be different than your messaging towards retired military veterans over age 60. And once you’ve decided which segment of the population you’d like to target, you’ll be able to tailor your message accordingly, so your customers feel understood before they ever step into your shop.
For more guidance and detailed information that’s designed for your industry, contact a business consultant or market research firm.