5 Ways To Find Your Ideal Customer
So if you've been following along this month, you know that we are making progress!
In November so far, we've already determined who our ideal audience is, what they need or want and now it's time to find out where they are so you can get to know them better and interact with them!
Once you know where your ideal customer hangs out, you will also be able to create a marketing promotional strategy using that information.
Now, just how do I find my ideal customer?
This can often be a really challenging part for creative people who are trying to start a side hustle or new business. Sometimes people make the big mistake of waiting for their audience to find them.
Insert sad face here.
Sorry, that just doesn’t usually happen.
You have to go out and find your audience and let them know that you exist.
If there is just one thing to take away from all of the business related posts this month, it is that it is your job or responsibility to go out and find your ideal customer.
Not the other way around.
Sure you might get lucky and some of your customers will find you, but you might also wait for a really long time and eventually get discouraged and give up on a business that you never really gave a fair shot to.
I don't want this for you!
So lets take a look at the 5 ways to find your ideal customer.
1 | FACEBOOK GROUPS
I don’t think that I need to tell you how powerful a tool social media is. And that if you’re interested in selling your products but not yet on social media, you should drop everything and start there.
In my experience, Facebook in general and especially Facebook groups give the most engagement.
Not only will having a Facebook group presence help you to promote your own work and side business but it will also give you a direct view into your competition and what sorts of things they’re promoting, how they’re promoting and who they’re promoting too.
2 | IN-PERSON MARKETS
Vending at markets in your town or a close by city is one of the best ways to find your ideal customer and, bonus! make direct contact and interact with them.
When you get out in-person to sell your goods, you get to see who is stopping by your booth, what they are all about and which items they gravitate too.
Having this 1 on 1 in person interaction can provide some serious feedback about what they’re into and what their needs and desires are.
You might also get a better sense of how to answer those 10 questions about your ideal customer.
3 | ETSY
If you’re already a seller on Esty you might know that you can view specific insights of your recent buyers.
For example you can click on your buyers profile and check out what items of other sellers that they've Favorited.
This gives you a huge view into what they like so you can then develop trends and start to create patterns and real life examples of what your audience gravitates to.
You can also get a great view of what your competition is doing and how they're performing on Etsy.
4 | STUDY YOUR COMPETITION
Whether you search for leather wallets on Etsy or use a hashtage on social media, doing so will most like bring up anyone else who is making the same leathergoods.
These people are your competition and it is important have a general sense of what they’re doing, who they’re marketing to and how.
You can also glean very specific info, like prices ranges for similar products, materials comparison etc and get a sense of how your products stack up and what you can do to increase views from the competitions customer base.
5 | ONLINE COMMUNITIES OR FORUMS
Think about it this way, where does your audience hang out and what are they into?
Are they in facebook groups about horses? Are they going to in-person markets and searching for those unique handmade items?
Where ever they’re hanging out, you need to be there too and truly engage with them. Once you find them, genuinely come from a place of creating something of value for them and you’ll be sure to win them over.
