Identifying your Customers

Published on 27 February 2019

Marketing is a huge part of every business. Thanks to modern technology and online marketing, you can solve problems, grow your business and effectively make more money. In a recent Hub Live, SmartHub Business Manager Elize Hattin sat down with Melody Kowald, founder and director of the marketing firm - The Digital Executive. With 11 years of experience, Melody is a pro at partnering with businesses and helping them towards marketing success.

Creating a customer persona

According to Melody, the most important part of marketing is knowing who your customer is. “Without actually knowing who your customer is, it’s really hard to figure out where you’re going to find them. How do you know you’re targeting the right customers if you don’t know who they are? It’s really, really important to know who your customers are and to know as much about them as you possibly can,” she said. “If your ad is too broad, then the cost per customer will be very, very high and not as efficient as what it could actually be.”

Brainstorming is a key part of identifying your customer’s needs. Figuring out what the needs, desires, fears and hopes of the customer are makes it easier to work out where and how you should be advertising. Melody gave the example of a client she once helped find their perfect customer market. “They were a technology provider, so we started identifying what the problems were that their customers were having, the things that actually drove my client to create the product in the first place. What were the behaviours of people that would consume this type of product? What were their frustrations that drove them to the product? We kept going, creating this information and eventually it helped us to develop a few different customer profiles and we eventually settled on customer ‘X’, who would be an event manager who is very short on time. We then found out that social media was a fantastic platform to get in contact with these busy people. This is why creating a customer profile is helpful. You can narrow down where you need to be to find your customers.”

Keeping an eye on your results

Melody also recommends consistently measuring any results from advertising campaigns. “Measuring your results is really important because the results you’re getting should dictate where your marketing budget should be spent to reach the most customers.”

When analysing data, the best place to start is Google Analytics. If your business has a website, installing Google Analytics allows you access to invaluable data about who is looking at your site, how long they’re on it, where they came from and how many pages they looked at. “It’s really valuable to see how interested they are in your product and service. If they’re leaving your site very soon after arriving there, that’s an indication that the people seeing your advertisement, may not be the people who need your services. If you have a bounce rate higher than 60% that shows that you’re not targeting the right people,” Melody explained.

Facebook and Instagram are also a great source for data for your ad campaigns. Facebook’s Ads Manager provides information such as demographics, which allows you to see if the customers that are liking your page are relevant to your business. Melanie suggested “If you are a local accounting business, and you could only service people within your local region, and you started noticing a lot of people liking your page that were from somewhere else, like Brisbane or Sydney, then that might cause you to think, “Well, hang on. There’s a really limited opportunity for these customers to bring value to my business. Why are they attracted to my page?”

You can then refine the targeting on your campaign to make sure you are only attracting and advertising to people in your region”.

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is another important marketing tool to use on the internet. Melody explains that this is part of organic marketing, where you don’t spend money to promote your product or business. “SEO is where you’re effectively looking at ways to get your business to rank higher on Google naturally,” Melody explained. “You add a few key words that are relevant to your business, for example making sure your page says ‘Rockhampton plumber’ if you’re a plumber in Rockhampton. There are tools like Google Search Console, which is really valuable if you’ve just launched a website. Google Search Console provides a lot of insights from an SEO perspective to help you identify where potential improvements can be made so that you can drive more traffic to your website.”

Melody recommends setting time aside to properly look through the data. “I look at all of my clients’ performance generally every day, if not every week. I like to look at daily trends, weekly trends and even monthly trends.”

Advice for getting started

When Elize asked Melody about what advice she recommends to anyone getting started with marketing, Melody replied, “First and foremost, if you are investing in any form of digital marketing, get your hands on some monthly reports. If you’re working with an agency, consultant or if you’re doing it yourself, get your hand on some reports and look at how things are going for you now to get a benchmark.”

“Secondly, make decisions when it comes to your budget, use those results you’ve just assessed and use the information to make decisions about how you’re going to spend your marketing dollars.”

“Thirdly, if you’re not confident about nailing your customer persona, the book a time in your diary and set aside a strategy day. Then sit down and brainstorm everything we’ve talked about from the point of view of your customer’s needs. Get it locked in your diary and make it happen!” 

The tools that technology gives us to identify our audience are an excellent asset to any business owner. Anyone from an international corporation to a brand-new startup can learn how to target the right market, and ensure the right people are seeing your ads. This guarantees successful marketing towards the future.

If you’re interested in joining Melody Kowald and becoming part of the supportive SmartHub Community, simply contact the SmartHub by email or feel free to pop into Customs House at 208 Quay Street for a tour. The SmartHub offers a variety of membership packages from monthly membership to corporate packages. More information can also be found on their Facebook Page, website or by emailing smarthub@rrc.qld.gov.au.

 

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