by Lucy Thornton, Market My Handmade
“Dear losers, do you really think I would hide presents under the couch?
P.S. Chandler, I knew they’d break you.”
“Uh oh, I think she could be onto us.”
If you’ve no clue what I’m on about, then thanks for stopping by, but I wasn’t talking to you.
If you know exactly what I’m talking about (and you agree that Monica is indeed very loud for such a small person) then hello, dear reader.
Knowing your customer is one of the most important steps to getting your marketing right.
By changing how I talk to my clients in marketing communications, my business more than doubled in just three months. And it’s still growing.
And the change wasn’t all that difficult. All I did was talk directly to my customer.
Who is your customer? Does she watch American sitcoms? Does she know who the Kardashians are? Does she shop locally? Does she care about organic? What websites, if any, does she visit? What magazines does she read? Does she have children?
Close your eyes for a second – (okay, read this first, then close your eyes). What does your customer look like? How does she spend her day? Does she drive to work? Does she buy lunch or take a packed lunch?
The more you know about your customer, the more targeted your communications and the more effective your marketing messages.
My customer is female, she’s called Sarah and she’s a mother with two young children (Evie, 4 and Josh, 7). She wears A-line skirts, and she layers her tops so she’s never too hot or too cold. Sarah’s husband works full-time, and she has a part-time secretarial job that helps pay the bills. But she’s frustrated and wants to develop her own business. She makes sure the children have fruit in their sandwich boxes each morning, but then buys herself a Twix from the vending machine in work to satisfy mid-morning munchies….
Once you’ve got a crystal clear image of your customer, talk to her one-to-one in all your communications. Every time you write a sales letter or a blog post, when you Tweet or write copy for your website, talk directly to your Sarah (or Rob, or Pete, or Jen).
This will make your communications incredibly powerful. Your customer will relate to you. She’ll feel like you know her and she’ll trust you because of it.
Maybe you’re thinking “but I have more than one customer”. Yes you do, but you’ll be surprised how many people read your copy and relate to it. They’ll think you’re talking to them (even if they don’t wear A-line skirts).
So how do you put all this into action? Right now? How can you use this to increase your sales or followers by 187%?
Once you’ve got a few attributes that you can list to describe your customer, then you can get marketing with feeling:
– use the same words in your marketing that your customer uses (“mid-morning munchies” rather than “elevenses” perhaps?)
– write like you talk (no “henceforth” and “whence” and “to whom“, and maybe even the occasional “yeah“ – what would you English Literature teacher say?)
– use images that she can relate to in your marketing – photos of homes like hers, families like hers, friends like hers
– hang out in the same forums as her (not like a creepy stalker, but join in the conversation and offer constructive comments and advice)
– don’t get too hung up on grammar – write like you talk. Use commas after and, use loadsa slang (as long as your customers do).
– share articles that she’ll care about, through Twitter, Facebook and your blog
We’ll look in more detail at growing your business through social media in the next post from Market My Handmade here on OMHG, but until then, who’s your customer? Do you know her well enough? Is your customer a man? Is he older than you? Does he read Time Magazine? Does he care about the latest gadgets?
Tell me about your customer in the comments below.
PS: And if you didn’t get the Friends reference in the opening paragraph, then thanks for sticking with me til the end. Maybe I was talking to you after all….
