One of the most common mistakes business owners make is thinking that everyone needs their product or service.
How many times have you heard someone at a networking event say they’re looking for “anybody who runs their own business” or “anybody who needs X, Y or Z”? So, what’s the problem?
Surely having a really broad target market can only be a good thing can’t it? No, sorry to disappoint you but trying to be all things to all people generally leads to a constant battle to find more customers.
And here is why:
When you try and appeal to everyone you won’t specifically be appealing to anyone. Consider these questions:
- Who is your marketing aimed at?
- How are you going to help them?
- What is their specific need or problem you can solve?
The truth is that there is really only one thing your customer is interested in and that’s them! It’s all about them and not about you. Successful marketing really gets under the skin of your customer and says something that your ideal customer really wants to hear. Your customer should be able to read your website or your articles or listen to your networking pitch and really feel like it speaks directly to them. They need to feel a genuine connection with what you’re offering.
So, I know that many of you are nodding as you read this but at the same time are also worrying because surely if you only appeal to a small sector of the market that means you’re excluding everyone doesn’t it? That must mean you now have a tiny target market and how will you be able to find enough customers that way?
The answer is that you shouldn’t have just one target market you can have many different market segments as your customers. The key is to create a marketing message specific to each one so that each feel a personal connection and believes that you completely understand their individual needs. For instance, this month your marketing may focus on opticians, next month it may be plumbers, and the month after that might be accountants. The point is that each of those will have a very different need for your product or service so your marketing needs to focus in, one at a time, on each of those needs.
Being specific really does work!
