You Probably Don't Match Your Ideal Customer Profile
It's
tempting to make intuitive marketing
decisions based on your own preferences. But, you're likely to either miss out on a
great opportunity or follow a path to unsatisfactory results. All it takes is a few false starts and your
aspirations for moving your company to the next level will fade into the sunset.
What
happens is that - the product or service that you've designed, or the campaign
you've developed, or the channels and locations you've selected, or the price
points you've chosen - are based on your perception rather than being aligned
with the facts associated with those to whom you are marketing and selling.
Research,
surveys, interviews and testing will enable you to define and understand each finely
tuned B2B segment or B2C persona. First,
understand their pain points, objections, information sources, and what's important
to them. Then, you can innovate ways to
solve problems, enhance experiences, place content where their they will
discover it, and create raving fans.
Armed
with a value proposition tailored to each segment or persona, you will be ready
to generate, qualify, nurture and convert leads to sales ready status.
You
need someone who encourages you to consider this principle every time you make
a marketing decision.
