Ok. Show of hands.
Who wants to find more raving customers?
You know the kind of customers I talk about, don’t you?
Customers who come back again, and again, to work with you.
Customers who tell everyone how brilliant you are.
Customers who energise you.
Where can you find such customers?
It sounds like a difficult marketing challenge.
But it really isn’t.
The key is to focus all your marketing efforts on your perfect customer.
I don’t mean someone who is perfect in every sense. I mean someone you love working with; for whom you’ll do your best work.
Why you can’t be everything to everyone
You’re not Coca Cola. You’re not Tesco. You’re not Heinz.
Mega-brands are mainstream: they try not to offend anyone; they try to appeal to everyone; and they have a massive marketing budget to reach as many people as possible.
But you need to be different. You have to stand out. You have to be you.
Because as a micro business owner you are the main reason people business with you. You are the Unique Selling Point of your business.
You create your most enthusiastic admirers and most loyal fans because you do things your way.
You can only be at your best when you work for your perfect customer.
How to define your perfect customer
A buyer persona is a distinct group of potential customers, an archetypal person whom you want your marketing to reach. ~ David Meerman Scott
A buyer persona is marketing lingo for your perfect customer. And as David Meerman Scott says, buyer personas are the most fundamental aspect of great marketing.
How can a buyer persona guide your marketing efforts?
- Understand your buyer persona’s problems; and you’ll be able to provide enchanting solutions for him or her;
- Know what your buyer persona reads and where he hangs out; and you’ll appreciate which marketing channels to use;
- Learn your buyer persona’s language, and you’ll delight him with your words;
- Understand your buyer persona’s objections to buying; and you can be more persuasive.
Are you ready to start defining your perfect customer?
It’s easy. Think about him or her. Picture who you’d like to do business with.
Start with some simple demographics: Is it a man or a woman? What age? What profession? What income? What education? Who is in his family? What car does he drive?
Then dig a little deeper:
- What is he (or she) reading?
- What social media channels does he use?
- What does he like and dislike?
- What does he dream about achieving?
- What would he love to have?
- What keeps him up at night?
- What is he afraid of losing?
- How does he make decisions?
Write a one-page bio based on your answers, give your buyer persona a name, and find a picture to add to the bio.
That’s all.
Whenever you market to your (potential) customers, imagine writing to just your perfect customer. Your writing will become charming. And your arguments will become persuasive. And doing business with you will become more attractive.
The truth about turbo-charging your marketing
Defining who you serve is the most important decision in your business.
You have to be brave enough to say no to people with whom you don’t click. Maybe they’re too mellow. Or just too dynamic. Maybe you prefer to work with creative types. Or with analytical people. The perfect customer is different for everyone.
Only work with people who you connect with. Who bring the best out of you. Who work with you because of who you are.
They will become your fans. And they will recommend you. And word of mouth is the best marketing you can ever do.
Today’s micro action:
Define the buyer persona for your business.
Henneke Duistermaat is a marketer and copywriter. She helps companies win business with persuasive website and content. Sign up for her ultra-short, entertaining copywriting and content marketing tips at Enchanting Marketing.
Microbusiness hub email bites are perfect! They carry the right amount of information to grab my attention, are really well written and are packed with the right advice for someone like me who has a micro business and who feels passionately about it! More! More! More! And of course, big thanks.
Yippee! Thanks Maggie for your lovely feedback. I’m so glad it’s hit a mark with you and you’re enjoying our content. Our aim is to inspire all those busy, passionate micro business owners and give you tips and ideas you can use to grow in your business.
And of course we couldn’t do it without the topnotch content from our guest contributors so a big thanks to all of them. We’ve got some more fab articles out this week so watch this space
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Great article and relevant to my micro business. And also great to be reminded about who our customers really are and all about their persona.
Great article – thanks. I have already started to define my ideal client but like the idea of going even deeper into her likes etc and so will be adding to renaissance woman’s profile today.
Glad you find it useful, Sara
Henneke this article is spot on. When running a micro business and juggling all those hats it can be all too easy to forget that attracting your target customer is the key to the success of your marketing. If you can tightly identify who your business naturally appeals to, suddenly the success of your strategy increases.
P.S: The buyer persona questions are really useful
Really useful article – buyer persona here I come !!