Not everyone likes vanilla ice cream. Not everyone drinks coffee. The fact is that no matter how great a product or service you have, there will always be people who just don’t care for it.
But what if you can just get your business out there to more people?
Selling to everyone with a heartbeat means you don’t have a finger on the pulse of the ideal customer. - Paul Reilly
How many people know that vanilla ice cream exists? And yet, not everyone likes vanilla ice cream. The point is this - it doesn’t matter how many people know about your business. Unless they are the people who will want what you’re selling, it won’t help your bottom line. Seth Godin, famously summed it up like this, “everyone is not your customer.” When you devote your resources and money trying to sell to people who don’t care for what your business has to offer, your cost to acquire customers goes up, and your return on investment goes down. However, when you focus on who your products or services would best serve, something incredible happens - your profits go up. These people are known as your ideal customers.
Why market to your ideal customers and not everyone?
You will spend less time and money trying to acquire customers.
Your marketing message will be more impactful.
You will enjoy more repeat business, and word of mouth referrals from happy customers.
You can better anticipate the needs of your market because you know who they are and what they want/need.
Your return on investment will be much higher.
You will feel less stressed trying to please everyone.
How To Determine Who Your Ideal Customers Are
Think about who would benefit the most from your products or services. What is their age group? Where do they live? What is their lifestyle? Gender? Income? What biases or beliefs do they have that could prevent them from buying in? Keep asking questions like these and conduct research that will help you understand who these people are. This is known as creating a ‘buyer persona’ and it will help you tailor your #marketing to attract and convert the right people.
Take a closer look at your current customers and then determine who are your best customers (most profitable, repeat business, very few complaints if any etc). Then ask yourself who are they? Why do they do business with you? What influenced them to buy? What is their age group? Lifestyle? Outlook on life? What types of products or services do they buy from you? And so on. Looking at your best customers and understanding who they are can help you find and attract more customers like them.
Understanding that everyone is not your customer doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of people who could potentially be your ideal customers. It means that you don’t have to try to please everyone or spend big bucks trying to reach and convince everyone. Your marketing can be more targeted and strategic, focusing on those who will truly care about and want what your business sells. Knowing who your ideal customers are and designing your marketing to attract and keep them is a great way to help your business grow.