How to Reach Your Ideal Clients
Do you ever feel like your marketing message is getting completely lost, as if you are shouting into the void? Are you wondering how to reach your ideal clients?
The key to reaching and attracting your ideal clients is threefold:
- Identify who you want to reach in a very specific way
- Get very clear on what is most important to them
- Determine exactly where to find them
Step One: Identify and Define Your Top Client Niche
I’m sure you have heard this before. Create your “Ideal Client Avatar.” Describe your ideal client in detail. Give them a name, a persona. This step is really important. The problem is, most business owners are too mired in the nitty gritty of their business to get clear on who their best clients are.
Here’s a technique that will help you figure out who they are and how to reach your ideal clients.
- Open up a spreadsheet.
- List all of your clients or customers in order of how much money the spend with you.
- Rank them on how easy they are to work with, how good they are for your business, how aligned they are with your core values.
Using the data in your list, determine who your best clients really are (sometimes what you see when you put it in writing may surprise you). Once you determine who your very best client is, the one(s) you would like to clone over and over again in your business, describe them in as much detail as possible. Combine the attributes of several clients if applicable. What do they have in common?
Steps 2 and 3: Interview Your Best Clients
The best way to determine what matters most to the clients you want to attract is to talk to them. This is also the best way to figure out where to find more clients just like them!
Start by asking the following questions:
- What do they like about your business? What are you doing right?
- What don’t they like about your industry in general? What do they wish was different?
- If they were looking for a business like yours (to hire or purchase from), where would they go to find it?
- Where do they spend their time? Do they hang out on social media (which ones)? Do they go to industry conferences? What do they read and listen to?
You might be wondering why we suggest you ask what your clients don’t like about your industry, vs what they don’t like or aren’t happy with in your business. The reason is that this is less awkward than asking them to confront you with things they don’t like about you. You are more likely to get an honest answer when asking about the industry. This also shows you potential gaps in your industry that you can fill.
Once you have this information from your best clients, you can craft a message that will distinctly appeal to them. Look for the answers to your questions that will help you distinguish yourself from the competition. Most businesses think that they need to convince their clients or customers that they have the “best” product or service. Or they think they need to incentivize their prospects with discounts and low prices.
More often than not, if you can identify a specific attribute that your clients appreciate about you, you can use this as a point of differentiation. For example, let’s say when you ask what you are doing right, they say they appreciate that you are always on time, or that you communicate clearly, or that you are flexible, etc. If you hear the same answer from multiple clients, then you know that this is something that will attract other clients who care about this too. Use it in your sales and marketing!
Once you have a message that stands out, you want to get in front of your ideal prospects with your message. The key to reaching your ideal clients is to show up frequently in the places where they “hang out.” Where are they most likely to see you? Most small businesses don’t have the marketing budget to be everywhere, so make sure you concentrate your efforts in the places where your clients are most likely to see you. If you can find some places where your competitors are NOT showing up, even better! You will know something that they don’t know. While they are busy competing in the red ocean, you will have the blue ocean all to yourself!
These are some of the strategies that we have in our toolbox at Pumpkin Plan Your Biz. If you would like help determining who your ideal clients are, what your most effective messaging is and where to find them, Hire a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist today!
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