You finally did it! Your new business is up and running. You are confident about your product or service, and you are ready to let the world know about it.
But, wait a minute. Is it necessary to reach the whole wide world?
You probably think it is. After all, this is your “baby”. You have been working hard for it, and everyone deserves to know it exists. Right?
Well, there are many reasons why that is not a good idea and here is one: You are wasting two things that, at early stages of your business, you might not have much of: Time and Money.
Let’s say that there is a big fitness event taking place in your city. It’s going to be huge! Since a lot of participants are expected to come, you buy a table. So far it sounds very clever. Your product will be in front of hundreds of people. The only thing is that you are in the baking business. Actually, you are known as the “Queen of Cupcakes”.
See the problem here?
You spent money buying a space in the event, making the cupcakes, decorating your table. You also spent time promoting your participation on social media channels, and designing promotional material to distribute, plus the time on the event itself. Was it worth it? Probably not. Even though your product was exposed to a huge crowd, the main audience was not interested because it did not appeal to them. It was not fulfilling their needs or solving a problem.
Although this example seems obvious, it can easily illustrate how, by knowing your customer, your life as an entrepreneur can become a little bit easier.
Among other benefits, you will:
- be prepared to decide in which events to participate
- determine the kind of information your customers are looking for, and provide it to them
- know which social media channels are more appealing to them
Aiming to reach everyone is not effective. Besides being time consuming, it reduces your possibility of maximising your investment.
Instead, focus on getting to know exactly who is in need of what you are offering and “talk” to them, aim to solve their problems. At the end, it will be more rewarding to you and it will provide your customer a better experience.
Maribel Rodríguez is a public relations and communication professional with more than 15 years of experience in the field. Her mission with More 2 PR is to help small/medium sized businesses grow by creating strategies that enable them to attract and engage with their ideal audience.