Know Thy Clients
You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “know thyself,” but there’s an even more critical saying that every organization must embrace: “know thy clients.”
Sure, a thorough understanding of key consumer demographics is essential. (You wouldn’t try to sell technical products geared toward manufacturers to a consumer market or peddle a toddler toy to the mother of a teenager.) But to succeed in today’s tight marketplace, you must know much more about your key audience than gender, age and income level.
Brands that connect today reach their audience on a much deeper level by using analytics (and a little common sense) to gain an understanding of what their buyers actually need and what they ultimately want.
For example, the mother of a toddler searching for toys on the internet at 2 a.m. isn’t really shopping for a new plaything for her child. What she really wants may be something that stimulates her child’s senses in a way that prepares her to better engage the world or that captures his attention for long enough to allow her to get laundry folded. But most likely, she wants a tool that helps lull her child to sleep when the last thing that two-year-old wants to do is drift off. Once you understand the primary motivation behind her late night search, you can use it wisely. You can focus your messaging on how your product will allow that harried mom to get her child to sleep. (And you can save the messaging around your product’s educational advantages and how it allows a child to entertain himself for a few precious moments for another time of day when those touch points will be more effective.)
Whether you are targeting social media, Google adwords, or pulling the correct levers in a traditional ad campaign, the first step to perking interest in your brand is to speak to what your customers truly want – then you can begin to connect with them on a deeper level.
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