Why You Should Minimize Your Brand’s Target Market by @MallaHaridat

Think you work with everyone?

Think again.  You need to know EXACTLY who your target client is in order to save money and time on your marketing.

Learning about your target market is not a luxury for when you get some extra time. It is essential to your business success!   You'll earn more and be able to line up future events easier when you nail who your target client is. Believe it or not, knowledge of your target audience affects everything from your social media campaign to the way you bill customers. There are many reasons to know your target market. Here are three of the most important ones.

Better Branding
If you are not solving a customer’s problem, providing some kind of information or entertainment, why does your business even exist? Knowing your target audience goes a long way in helping you clarify the purpose of your business and vice versa. To keep a business going with passion and success, you have to have a purpose and it has to be greater than just income. And if you think it's just because you are a great event planner  - think again.  There are thousands of great planners out there.  But what do you do differently ?  What is that extra special touch that has them call you again and again rather than other planners? Think hard about what your client needs are and share in your branding how you serve them.

Communication
If you don’t know whom you’re targeting, how will you know how to communicate with them? You wouldn’t start talking golf swings to a scientist, or women’s health to a musician because you won’t connect that way. You have to know your customers and be able to talk their talk.  Address their pain points.  For example,

• Are you working with fundraisers who need variety in their events with donors?
• Are you working with corporate clients who want to be very hands on with the overall event and you know how to involve them yet add that extra touch that they cannot focus on?
• Or perhaps you are working with a conference who needs you to be available 24-7 a few months prior to the event?

Consider how you can communicate addressing your client's pain points.  The better you understand who your target client is - the better you'll be able to nail your communication in your marketing.

Marketing
Along with communication, your marketing will also fail if you don’t know who you are marketing to. Your marketing campaigns need to be laser focused and not for everyone. You may think you want everyone’s business, but trust me; you will be a lot more successful if you target.

Try this activity - write out a sales page for your target client.  Start writing as if you are talking directly to one person who is in your target client group.

Now review it against your current sales page.

See anything you could tweak or edit?  I'm betting that the one that was written to one person as if it was a "love letter to ease their pains" was more compelling than a generic sales page. The truth is, you just cannot serve everybody. And, you will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Get behind those laser beam eyes and figure out who your target is. Your brand will thank you.