It’s easy for some brands to feel lost, wandering aimlessly in search of the people for whom their products were designed and created, especially when you’re a newly established business. Not knowing how to find your specific customer base, communicate with them, or even hold their attention when interacting with them can be daunting.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Finding the customers who are meant for your product can be simplified, yet it is often made unnecessarily complicated. That’s because identifying your target audience and keeping them engaged requires precise action. Once your brand clearly understands the target audience whose attention you’re seeking and knows how to attract them, you won’t be in the dark regarding your marketing efforts. When your business takes precision action and calculated steps when targeting your ideal audience, your brand can confidently hit your mark every time rather than relying on guesswork.
In the United Kingdom, the failure rate for new businesses is approximately 20% in the first year of operation. This number rises significantly over time, with about 60% failing within the first three years. The primary reason for that failure is cash flow issues, affecting 65% of small businesses. Other top reasons a fledgling business might fail include a lack of market demand, affecting 42%, and competition at 20%. If businesses knew how to find and maintain their target audience, more businesses would fall into that ideal 33% of small businesses that make it to the 10-year mark. To get there takes a strategic approach, with the goal of relating to your customer base while sustaining your brand’s long-term relationship with them.
The UK consumer market is like any other market, where finding your target audience means you must first understand the market landscape and the diverse ways your ideal customers like to make purchases. Understanding the consumer market is step one in evolving your business into a trusted and recognizable brand. Your brand doesn’t have to monopolize the entire market; all you need is an active relationship with your audience and an active presence in the market itself. This is important because brands lose customers every day, and having an active presence means that customers are familiar with your brand as well as those similar to yours. Approximately 67% of UK shoppers say they are less loyal to brands than two years ago. At the same time, the cost of living, price privatization, and ever-changing customer expectations are other contributors to a decline in brand loyalty.
Your target audience is the specific group of customers that your brand was established to serve. Now, this is not to say you would ever ignore other potential customers, but that your primary focus is the people who would benefit most and be most interested in what you have to offer. Whether your business offers a product or a service, selling to these intended people is key to maintaining your market presence. To ensure your brand can hit the bullseye with precision when targeting your target audience, here are three foolproof tips for attracting and maintaining your relationship with the customers of your brand’s dreams.
1. Specific messaging
When communicating with your target audience, direct, intentional messaging is imperative. It’s your brand’s way of telling your target audience you are reaching out to them specifically. Personalizing your messages is one way of calling someone by name or recalling shared experiences that only you two would know. Personalizing online messages is a way to shine a spotlight on these special customers, penetrating through the fog that obstructs the visibility of so many brands. And, of course, when your customers are face-to-face with you and your representatives, it’s the simple, yet often-forgotten, niceties that make your customers feel special. Things like sincere compliments, knowing their names, and remembering their shopping habits will secure your connection and loyalty to your brand.
2. Quality Products
In the UK, 54% of shoppers actively avoid waste, meaning the more durable and reliable your product is, the more loyal they will be to your brand. Aside from wasting a product, no customer wants to waste their time or resources. Therefore, when brands develop a product that their target audience can depend on year after year, and your salespeople are straightforward and honest, it becomes the glue between customer and brand. Your product lives up to its job, which speaks volumes about your brand name and reputation.
3. Consistency
Targeting your brand’s target audience takes a well-thought-out and well-executed strategy. The main ingredient of your brand strategy is consistency. Knowing your ideal customer’s shopping habits and communication style means nothing if your brand isn’t consistent. Being consistent is to be a steward of your business relationship with your customers. In business, consistency is akin to intentionality, which is what builds and strengthens connections. A strong relationship between your customer and your brand is how businesses compete and stay relevant.
It is always gratifying to achieve alignment with your customers. When your business successfully connects with and builds a trusted relationship with its target audience, everyone’s a winner. Much like playing darts, hitting that bullseye requires precision, skill, and, eventually, muscle memory. Understanding how to position your hand and arm to hit the target mirrors the careful approach businesses should adopt when aiming for their ideal customers.