Imagine you’re building a business and you want to start bringing in serious revenue. Do you think you’d have more success trying to chase after every kind of customer imaginable, or determining a target audience and fine-tuning a strategy to secure said audience?
If you guessed the latter, then congratulations, your instincts are on point. Business success is closely tied to your ability to find your customer base and resist the temptation of being “all things for every potential client.” Today, we’ll take a closer look at the reasons why and how you can better focus on being specific about who your business targets as a potential customer.
The Classic Business Error
It’s a mistake that business neophytes make en masse. When you’re first starting out, it’s easy to let your ambition to become successful cloud your judgement.
In the mad dash to make something of your brand, you might try to chase after as wide a swath of the market as possible. While at first you might think that this is the best way to maximize your opportunities for sales, the more likely outcome here is actually disappointment.
In attempting to make your brand appeal to everyone, you’ll actually end up appealing to no one at all. Your product (or service) won’t have the focus it requires to provide any real value to any segment of the market. Potential customers will know this, and avoid your brand as a result.
It may seem counterintuitive, but in slowing down and identifying a smaller slice of the market you want to appeal to, you’ll be much more likely to attract and retain customers on a long-term basis. Read ahead to learn why that is and how you can get started.
The Importance Of Targeting
If you’ve ever heard other entrepreneurs talk about developing a value realization strategy before, you may have an idea of what’s coming next and why it matters. Value realization is the process you’ll use to communicate how your brand can enhance your potential customers’ lives (bring them value, in other words). Customers who understand the value you provide are more likely to stick with you for the long haul and make plenty of repeat purchases.
In today’s climate, where your resources are limited and time is stretched thin, it’s nearly impossible to demonstrate value for every single prospective buyer on the planet. In defining a target market, however, you’ll be able to identify the characteristics of those most likely to buy into your brand and spend your resources wisely in trying to attract them.
In other words, instead of running around on a proverbial “wild goose chase” for customers, defining a target allows you to hone in on exactly the right type of customers for your business, bring them to without wasting large quantities of time or money, then keep them buying from you for years to come (provided you’ve developed adequate retention strategies).
As you move forward, be sure to keep this simple fact in mind: chasing after everything will get you nothing, so slow down, focus, and strive for building connections with your true customers that will stand the test of time.