Not every customer is your customer.
And that’s a good thing.
Trying to market to everyone can make it harder to connect with the people who are actually the best fit for your business.
Effective marketing isn’t about reaching the most people. It’s about understanding the right people well enough to know what they need, what matters to them, and what might keep them from saying yes.
That’s why Question Two in our Five Questions Every Growing Business Should Answer series is: Who are you trying to reach?
Know Where You Are. Then Know Who You Need to Reach.
In Question One: Where Is Your Business Today?, we looked at how your Growth Stage can help set your marketing priorities.
But knowing where your business is is only part of the equation. You also need to know who you’re trying to reach.
And that takes more than knowing their age, location, or income.
Your Audience Is More Than Demographics
Demographics can tell you a lot about who your customers are. But they don’t necessarily tell you why they buy.
Two people who look nearly identical on paper can have completely different priorities, frustrations, and reasons for choosing one business over another.
To create marketing that connects, you need to understand more than who your customers are. You need to understand what matters to them.
Start With Your Best-Fit Customer
Instead of focusing on everyone who could buy from you, start with the people who are the best fit for your business.
Think about your strongest customers. What do they have in common? What brought them to you? What do they value about working with your business?
Then dig a little deeper:
- What do they need?
- What do they prioritize?
- What frustrates them?
- What might keep them from saying yes?
- What makes them more likely to choose you?
The goal isn’t to narrow your audience just for the sake of being specific. It’s to identify the patterns that can help you make better marketing decisions.
Build a Customer Persona You Can Actually Use
A customer persona should be more than a fictional name, age, and list of interests.
It should turn what you know about your best-fit customers into guidance for your content, messaging, offers, and marketing priorities.
If the information doesn’t help you make a marketing decision, you probably don’t need it.
Turn Customer Insight Into Better Marketing
Understanding your customer is only useful if you put that insight to work.
- Their needs can help determine what you emphasize.
- Their priorities can shape the benefits you lead with.
- Their frustrations can inspire content that addresses real problems.
- Their objections can help you answer questions and build trust.
Instead of guessing what might connect, you can create marketing around what you already know matters to the people you want to reach.
Know Who You’re Talking To
Your best-fit customer isn’t just who you’re marketing to. They help shape the strategy itself.
That’s why customer understanding is an important part of The Biz Spa Strategy Engine. Knowing who you’re trying to reach gives you a clearer starting point for understanding how they think and make decisions.
Next, we’ll look at Question Three: How do your customers think?