Typically businesses can identify their “Target Market” with vague, overarching terminology. It’s often overloaded with assumptions and sweeping generalities that make you think that lots of people need your products and services. But in reality, you actually only sell to a small number of very specific “Personas.”
When you take a minute to think about your favorite and best clients, they usually fall into a few different categories. They may not be complete matches, but they probably share a handful of key commonalities. Identifying these Buyer Personas is a lot more valuable than sticking to other, nonspecific notions.
To make matters worse, some companies even struggle to even identify a Target Market. And failing this step, they try to market to EVERYONE. (I think you’ve read enough blogs and business books on why that is a terrible idea.)
In either case, whether you’re focused on “everyone” or just a big mob of people, it can help to drop the Target Market terminology all together. Instead, build and target your marketing efforts toward Buyer Personas.
But what in the hell is a Buyer Persona, anyway?
Buyer Personas are semi-factious representations of real-life clients. Put another way, they’re basically made-up “perfect” clients. Rather than targeting the generalities of a group, Buyer Personas are unique because they allow you to take a deeper dive into who your ideal clients/customers/patrons/whatever truly are.
Buyer Personas also give you a better sense of what makes your specific clients tick—and what will grab their attention.
Maybe an example will help… Below, you’ll find a sample of a Rake Development client’s buyer persona that we use as a beacon for their marketing efforts:
As you can see, Buyer Personas read more like profile pages you’d see on social media sites. They tend to be concise, and they can also be fun. The point is, they allow us to get a better understanding as to who the person is, and therefore, what types of marketing tactics you should employ to get them to respond.
Now here’s what’s really cool...
At Rake Development, we take this a step further and identify WHY your Buyer Personas choose to work with your company, and HOW they fall in love with your brand. We also take a close look at what their wants and needs are, and what their best selling points may be. Being able to identify these features is a huge boon for strategic marketing.
If you’re struggling with an outdated or expansive Target Market, it’s time to upgrade. You don’t want to feel like your marketing efforts are bringing in the wrong types of clients, so get focused on your IDEAL clients. It’s time to take a deeper dive and build out your companies Buyer Personas.
For more info and assistance in plotting out these details, Let’s Chat.
