Every business owner (including me back then) thinks that they automatically know who their customer is, or who they actually want it to be. First time owners say, "My customers are people with money who will buy my product or service." They're not wrong, but they are certainly not right. Let me explain.
Consumers do a lot more research before making purchases today. Since online shopping was invented, consumers are constantly going back and forth between websites. Some end up purchasing from the online store, others will use their information to go to the brick and mortar store to make a final purchase. Sometimes, it is the opposite way. A customer will come into the store to see what the item looks like in real life or try it on: and then order it online (maybe cheaper with a coupon).
As a business owner, it would be a horrendous waste of money to try and target every customer. The most obvious reasons are the simplest. For example, if you sell women's clothing, you wouldn't want to advertise on websites that men frequent. Or if you sell refurbished baby furniture, your ads shouldn't be on luxury cosmetic websites. You could argue that the mom who buys used baby furniture does so, so she can afford luxury makeup, but she would be the exception.
As a digital marketing manager, my favorite part in the month's course has been to learn how to segment the customers. It's a lot of fun, actually, to break down a company's product or service and seek out the real market.
The first segmentation part is to define your Geography. Are you selling from a small store downtown only, with no online sales? Or are you advertising to anyone with access to the internet? There are some stores with services that can't do both. For example, a crime scene clean up crew wouldn't need to advertise more than within their city or state if they didn't want to travel far. Geographical segmentation can also be ask general as US vs Global; Southwest vs all of USA, etc.
The next segmentation that a lot of businesses use for social media ads is Demographics. These are a customer's age, gender, marital status, income, education, or any quality that can categorize them. Within the demographics, there can be further segmenting.
For example, if you are looking to market your car cleaning service to luxury cars, you should choose customers with a high income, more education, usually men, and usually between the ages of 35 - 60.
Finally, my absolute favorite part of segmentation, which I currently use in my freelance photography business is: psychographics. A customer's behavior and values influence them more than we thought. For example, a customer who is obsessed with social media, new phones, and clothing with logos is willing to spend a little more on lunch, a vacation, or some new office furniture.
Finding the niche market group, the most specific customer, ensures that you have the best chance of repeat business.
All photos are stock photography from Wix.com
My Share point uploads for April 2023 below
See my next posts to learn about my last 4 projects.
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