Appreciate your patience on waiting on this, the next post in the series.
As we move towards the end of the series (eleven market research related questions that a new business owner and founder should be asking), we are now on the ninth instalment and are continuing to get to know your target customers better.
We are covering in this post questions #9 and 10 (respectively "How do I approach my target customers?" and "Who are my competitors?")
Using the Customer Persona and/or your Customer Journey Map frameworks you constructed (previous posts), you will have gathered data to form an understanding of your target customers. You will have validated your learnings and your previous observations about your customers' wants and needs using either or both frameworks. In the eighth instalment we looked at assessing the media of your target customers to learn about your target customers' usage of media.
In deciding how to approach your target customers, you now know what interests them to communicate more engagingly and to sell to them better. This is because the tone of your messages resonate more that you are building stronger relationships and retaining customers, as well as attracting relevant prospective customers better.
In your social media activity, highlight the primary problem or desire of your target customers, create your bond with them by establishing support or empathy, present your solution, establish your authority to build trust with your prospects about the effectiveness of the solution, provide social proof using testimonials, show the benefits and present your irresistible offer. Check out brands like Spotify, Nike, Wayfair and Mailchimp for inspiration. They connect well and bond with their audiences - offering stories and eye catching visuals.
To take this one step further, you can have insight into how your competitors conduct their own conversations with your target customers. Who are your competitors? Your competitors can be direct or indirect. Think about it like this. Direct competitors offer products or services that can be viewed as a straight swap or substitute for the products and services you sell. Indirect competitors offer products and services that solve the problem(s) of customers, but are not necessarily straightforward substitutes for the products and services you sell.
You should be continuously monitoring the market for new players in your industry. Are competitors regularly updating their websites, products, services, etc.? What marketing materials are your competitors putting out? What promotional offers do they have? We will continue the topic of monitoring competitors in the next instalment.
Market research will support you in answering questions about reaching your target customers and who is your competition. Market research can validate any assumptions you may about your target customers, your competitors and your target customers' perceptions of your brand versus that of competitors.
If you would like to hear more, please reach out via the Contact Form for a free consult call. I help owners of small businesses to be clear in communicating the scope of their offers and in identifying their ideal clients or customers.
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