Written by Cid Hanna, Marketing & Communications Director, Business Link Alberta
Part 1: Know Your Customer Before You Start Marketing
One the first questions a lot of new business owners ask is, “how do I get customers?” And when you’re starting a business, it can be tempting to think your product or service is for everyone.
Usually, it isn’t… and trust me, that’s a good thing.
Knowing exactly who you want to reach makes almost every marketing decision easier. It helps you choose what to say, where to advertise, which products or services to prioritize, and possibly most importantly when you’re starting out, how much you should spend on marketing!
So, by just taking a few steps, you can avoid one of the worst and easiest new business mistakes: spending money on ads before knowing who those ads are meant to reach.
1. Write down the problem you/your business solves
Ask yourself:
- What problem does my product or service solve?
- What becomes easier, faster, cheaper or better after someone buys from me?
- Why would someone look for this solution now?
- What might happen if they do nothing?
Try to describe the problem from the customer’s point of view.
Instead of:
We provide mobile auto detailing.
Try:
Our customers want to keep their vehicles clean but don’t want to spend part of their weekend driving to and waiting at a detailing shop.
That problem gives you much more information about who your customer might be.
2. Look at who experiences that problem most often
Identify the people who are most likely to experience the problem you solve. Depending on your business, useful characteristics could include:
- location
- age or life stage
- occupation
- industry
- income or budget
- household type
- business size
- years in business
- interests
- habits or behaviours
Not every characteristic will matter. If you provide commercial snow removal for example, geography, property type and business size may matter much more than age. If you sell baby products online, the life stage may matter much more. Focus on characteristics that have a genuine connection to someone’s likelihood of buying.
3. Define your geographic market
This can be one of the easiest ways to narrow an audience.
Are you trying to reach:
- customers within one neighbourhood?
- people throughout Calgary or Edmonton?
- communities across northern or southern Alberta?
- rural businesses?
- customers throughout Alberta?
- customers anywhere in Canada?
- International?
Your realistic service area matters here a lot.
For example, a landscaping company in Red Deer probably doesn’t need to advertise across the entire province. An Alberta-based online retailer may have a much larger potential market.
Being specific can help you avoid paying to reach people who cannot reasonably become customers. Remember the more specific you are, the more your marketing dollars can reach the right people.
4. Talk to potential customers
You don’t need an expensive research study to start learning about your market, but you do need to talk to people who fit your potential audience. Ask them how they currently deal with the problem your business solves. Find out what frustrates them, what solutions they have tried and what influences their purchasing decisions.
Useful questions include:
- How are you solving this problem today?
- What is the most frustrating part?
- What have you already tried?
- What matters most when choosing a provider?
- What would make you switch from your current solution or provider?
- What would make you hesitate before buying?
- Where would you normally look for a business like this?
Avoid turning every conversation into a sales pitch. At this stage, the goal is to gather information and learn.
A handful of thoughtful conversations can sometimes reveal more than 500 costly assumptions.
5. Look at your competitors’ customers
Your competitors can provide useful clues about the market.
Look at similar businesses’ websites, their social media accounts, read their Google reviews, and review their marketing and advertising.
Ask yourself:
- Who are they speaking to?
- What problems do they emphasize?
- What words do customers use in reviews?
- What do customers praise?
- What complaints appear repeatedly?
- Is there an audience that competitors seem to overlook?
You don’t need to copy a competitor’s audience. In fact, you may discover that narrowing your focus gives you a stronger position. Instead of becoming another general residential cleaning company, for example, you might specialize in move-in and move-out cleaning for renters, landlords and property managers.
6. Use the customers you already have
If your business already has customers, start there. Look for patterns among your best customers, not necessarily everyone who has ever purchased from you.
Consider which customers:
- buy repeatedly
- spend the most
- refer others
- are easiest to serve
- get the strongest results
- are the best fit for your business
Then take a look at what those customers have in common. Your ideal audience may already be showing you who they are.
7. Understand what triggers a purchase
People rarely wake up and decide to buy something for no reason. There is usually a trigger. A homeowner might search for a plumber after discovering a leak. A business owner might look for a bookkeeper after struggling through tax season. Someone might start researching wedding photographers shortly after getting engaged. A parent may search for tutoring after receiving a child’s report card. Identifying these moments can dramatically improve your marketing because you can focus on customers when the problem is at the top of their minds.
Ask yourself:
What happens immediately before someone starts looking for what I sell?
That answer can influence everything from what words you use in your advertising (keywords) to your social media content.
8. Identify what matters when they choose
Two customers can have the same problem but make decisions very differently. One customer might prioritize price. Another might care most about speed. Others may value convenience, expertise, customization, local service, sustainability, quality or reliability.
Try completing this sentence:
When choosing a __________, my customer cares most about __________.
If customers care about reliability, testimonials may help. If they care about speed, explain your turnaround time. If they care about quality, show your work. If they care about price, make your pricing easier to understand.
The strongest marketing often connects what customers care about with evidence that your business can deliver it.
9. Build an evidence-based picture of your audience
Build your understanding of your audience from real evidence. Look at the information you’ve gathered so far, and you’ll start to identify the patterns.
Your first customers will give you information that market research alone wont.
After a sale, ask questions such as:
- What was happening when you decided to look for this product or service?
- How did you look for solutions?
- What other options did you consider?
- What mattered most when you chose?
- Was anything unclear or difficult before you bought?
- What almost stopped you from purchasing?
- What made you decide to choose us?
As you build your customer or client base you can start gathering more through:
- sales conversations and inquiries
- website and social media analytics
- search data
- customer reviews
- surveys
- sales or transaction data
- industry and market research
- demographic and economic data from credible sources
- conversations with front-line staff who regularly interact with customers
Look for patterns that appear repeatedly.
You might discover, for example, that customers tend to start looking for your service after a particular event, that they repeatedly mention the same frustration, or that one factor matters much more than you expected when they choose a provider.
Document what you learn as you go. Understanding your audience is not a one-time exercise. Over time, compare what customers tell you with what your data shows.
The strongest understanding of your target audience comes from combining what people say with what they actually do.
10. Define your customer
Now that you’ve gathered evidence, take all your findings and write a few testable statements.
For example:
We believe new homeowners in Edmonton are most likely to look for our landscaping service during the first spring after moving because they want help deciding what to do with an unfinished or neglected yard.
Once you have a clearer picture of who your customers are, the next step is deciding how to reach them. Stay tuned for Part 2: Turn What You Know Into Marketing That Works, where we’ll explore how to put these insights into action.
If you’d like support developing your marketing strategy, Business Link Alberta offers free one-to-one support, webinars and resources to help Alberta entrepreneurs market and grow their businesses with confidence.
Cid Hanna is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Business Link Alberta, with more than 25 years of experience in marketing, advertising, and communications. She has worked with organizations of all sizes to connect with their audiences, strengthen their marketing, and build memorable brands.
