There’s an old saying in marketing: feed a starving crowd. Some of the best customers you’ll ever have are ones who are hungry for what you sell. That doesn’t always mean they’re looking for your specific product or service. It means that they have a problem, and you can solve it. All you need to do is tell them where you are.
Network
Networking works. Your friends, family, and acquaintances are all good places to start when trying to discover who your target audience is. Ask them questions about what they would look for if they were looking to solve a problem you could solve.
What would they want in a product or service solution? What wouldn’t they want?
For example, let’s say you’re a plumber. What would your friends and family look for in a plumber? What would they not want in a plumber? What services would they likely use a plumber for and which home plumbing problems would they just try to sort out themselves?
Do Research
Research your target market. Don’t overcomplicate this. Most marketers these days use a combination of online and offline research strategies. One of the best offline methods of research is the Standard Rate and Data service. This is essentially a catalog that lists all households in America that have purchased something through the mail.
The SRDS also functions as an excellent online resource. SRDS.com serves as the online iteration of the company, and allows you to do keyword research, research audience metrics, rates, target certain geographical areas and demographics.
Join The Online Discussion
Online discussion boards are still one of the best ways to connect directly with your audience. Companies like Yodle.com often recommend that you spend some time on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter to get an idea of what your market is looking for.
For example, if you sell primarily to other business owners, you could join a LinkedIn group related to your target industry, and just follow the discussions. See what people talk about. Read about their problems. Read about what solutions they manage to come up with. Get involved in the discussion and ask questions.
You might not ever sell any of these people and that’s OK. Your job here isn’t to make sales, it’s to do market research. Then, take the information you learn here and use it to put together a marketing campaign. Why not focus on selling those in the LinkedIn group? Well, because, these groups are not always open or friendly to soliciting. You don’t want to risk getting booted because you’re trying to sell members something.
Write Good Content And Promote It
Content is still king. One of the best things you can still do to connect with your target market is to write something for a trade publication that your audience reads. Alternatively, you could write something for the web, publish it on your own blog, then promote it using online press releases like Marketwired or PRWeb.
