Understanding how your marketing efforts help drive business can help you find new customers and create trust and loyalty. In order to determine if your marketing is reaching the customers in your target market, you need to understand that specific customer set and how their actions affect your business. Knowing your customers is key to bringing in new ones and creating the best experience for them. Here are 5 key ways to understand your customers.
Build personas of your target audience
Many marketers attempt to build a generic persona of their audience, but that’s where they stop. In order to understand your customers, ensure that you know the basics: age, location, gender, and occupation, but you also need to understand your customers on an emotional level. Having an emotional connection between your buyers and your brand is the primary driver in customer loyalty and key in demonstrating ‘problem & solution’ on an empathetic level.
Two ways to truly understand your customer emotionally are by digging into your keywords and using the Acquisitions tab in your Google Analytics. Look to see where your audience is coming from, social media, blogs, etc. Put yourself in your customers shoes and ask yourself the questions around “If I’m searching for this product, how would I be feeling? How would I feel when I find a solution? What should the solution make me feel?”. Some products are solutions to emotionally heavier problems, whilst others instil fun and lively emotions – identify how you want your customers to perceive your brand and products.
Keep an eye on customer reviews
There is a reason why companies are always asking you to complete a survey or leave a review when you buy a product or service. This information is an essential insight into the customer’s mind. They drive social proof online for potential customers, and they are an indicator of what current customers like about your business and what they feel you can do better. Use this information to your advantage.
Keep an eye on what your audience is saying about your business, then respond to the reviews when applicable. Consumers have stated that online reviews have a direct impact on whether or not they buy from your company, and your response matters when they determine whether to trust your company.
The insight you can gain from these reviews can be used to retarget your audience and to update your future marketing to better hit your audience.
Get feedback from your sales and customer service team
Your sales and customer service teams interact with customers every day. Listen to their input. Find out what your customers are saying and asking for from your products and services. The more touch-points you have with a customer, the more they form a loyal bond with your company. Your sales team will also understand why a customer chose not to purchase your product and why you lost a customer. They know the ebb and flow of your products and when to push a certain product versus when to back off.
Use the information they gather from your customers and their experiences to update your marketing message, and understand what your customers are truly looking for when browsing your site.
Analyse your data from previous campaigns
Analysis of your previous campaigns is important. If an activity you’ve done in the past doesn’t provide a good return, your strategy needs to be updated, and new tactics put into motion. Drilling down to the details gives you valuable information on what’s worked well and where to spend your marketing dollars. Are your customers showing up on social media or Google Ads? It shows you what methods your customers are latching onto, so you can increase spending in those areas and decrease it in others. It can also help you improve your communication with customers and your understanding of their needs.
Analysing your data can help you improve your ROI, identify new SEO opportunities, and help your sales team to better connect with your customers.
Keep tabs on new platforms
New platforms are built every day, especially in the social media world. Are your customers still on the old platforms, or are they transitioning to new ones? Stay ahead of your consumers, and be ready to change marketing strategies by understanding new platforms and when they are arising. Learn how to use them fluently and find out what type of people are hanging out on the new platform. The more you understand these platforms, the easier it will be to find your audience and know how to market to them.
The Bottom Line
Understanding your target market doesn’t have to be hard, but your marketing team should put in the effort to dig into the customers and identify their true needs. Use the information you learn in the analysing phase to drive your marketing efforts forward. By understanding how your customers buy (their emotional triggers) and where they are located, you can spend your marketing budget on a well-thought-out strategy that keeps current customers buying and new customers coming in the door.
Written by Ryan Jenkins.
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