Common Targeting Mistakes New Business Owners Often Make

As an internet marketing company in Miami that has worked with hundreds of new business owners in the area, we’ve seen all the possible targeting mistakes anyone who didn’t know any better could’ve done.  

And, if we’re all being honest here, we’ve committed a few of them ourselves. Fortunately, that was all in the past and we definitely learned from those mistakes.  

Hence, we created this blog!

We want to share the common targeting mistakes that new business owners often do so you don't have to make the same blunders as they did. At the same time, it can help you make better marketing decisions as you move forward.  

So, without any more delays, let's get started.  

What Are the 5 Common Targeting Mistakes That Small Businesses Often Do?

Your ability to choose the right audience, target them effectively, and appeal to them specifically determines the success of your marketing campaigns. If you don’t get this part right, it will be difficult for you to build a solid and profitable business.  

Targeting Everybody

We totally understand why you, a business owner who wants to get more customers and make more sales, would want to cast your net wide and try to market to everybody.  

However, targeting too broad of an audience won’t give you the biggest pool of customers. In fact, it might even be the reason why you’re not getting any!

When you try to appeal to everyone, you lose your relevance and get diluted in the process. In other words, you’ll lose your power to attract or charm customers.  

Instead of targeting everybody, it’s best to narrow down your focus to a single, highly specific group of people.  

Think about the handbag industry. It’s a pretty broad market, but the most successful handbag companies focus on very specific targets.  

Take a look at Kate Spade’s website, for example. It’s very feminine and you can tell it’s trying to appeal to a younger demographic with certain personality traits. Louis Vuitton, on the other hand, is a luxury brand that caters to wealthy middle-aged women and affluent fashionable young women.  

Even if almost everyone needs a handbag, these companies help us identify which handbag fits our personality, style, and what we can afford.  

So, how do you know if your target market is too broad?

Here’s how:

• You haven’t clearly defined who your ideal customers are, their pain points, and how your products or services can specifically help them.
• You’re spending too much on advertising to get your message across to everybody.
• Some of your customers aren’t the right fit for your business.

You need to remember that not everybody can be your customer. And so, how do you figure out who your ideal customers are?

There are two methods you can use to identify your target audience:

1. Start with your most profitable customers and best clients. Study their characteristics and list them down. Organize your list into different profiles based on their shared characteristics.  

For example, group together customers who are the easiest to work with and identify what their characteristics are. Are they male or female? What are their demographics? What about their behavioral traits?

Consider asking yourself these important questions:

• Who are your repeat customers?
• Which customers have been the most profitable?

• Which customers referred their friends and family?

Once you’re able to identify who these people are, you can now write down their traits and find more customers who are like them.  

• What are their demographics?
• What do they do for a living?
• How much do they earn?

• What are their interests?
• Which digital marketing channels do they usually learn about a new business or product?
• Are they married or single?
• Why do they choose you over your competitors?
• What do they like about your products or service?

2. Create a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a representation of your ideal customer. It is created through research, survey, and interviews. You can use this free persona template by Hubspot to start creating profiles.  

Buyer personas are essential because they help you focus your time and efforts on qualified prospects, build your products around their needs, and create effective marketing campaigns they’ll most likely respond to.  

As a result, you’ll be able to capture leads and turn them into customers your business will be able to retain over time.  

Targeting a Market That’s Too Narrow

When we said earlier that you need to focus on a single, highly specific group of people, we didn’t mean for that market to be far too definite and complex that it’s nearly impossible to reach them, or far too narrow that they won’t be able to provide a sufficient stream of revenue.  

It’s important to strike a balance when it comes to targeting.  

So, how do you know if your market focus is too narrow? You’ll know if you’re struggling to find prospects and customers to make your financials work, despite exhausting all your means to reach them.  

Skipping the Research Part and Trusting Your Guts Instead

Another common mistake that many new business owners and inexperienced marketers make is operating on assumptions rather than research.  

You may think that you know who your target audience is and how they're like because of some people you personally know who belong in those demographics, but trust us, you don’t.  

As an internet marketing agency in Miami, we know by experience that assumptions aren’t always consistent with hard data. So, make sure to back up all of your ideas with evidence and objective research.  

Here are the five ways you can research or learn more about your target audience:

• Use Google Analytics to find out more about your website visitors, from their demographics to their interests and more.  
• Use Facebook Insights to learn more about those who interact with your Facebook page and engages with your posts. Pay special attention to their comments and suggestions because these can give you insights about what they like and want from you, which you can use to create more compelling product offers.
• Go where your target audience usually spends their time. Is it on YouTube? Reddit? Facebook or LinkedIn Groups? Wherever your target audience spends their time interacting with content, you also want to be present and active there. Take note of their questions and what they’re saying in forums or groups.  

• Analyze your competitor’s social media followers. Who are they? Are they women or women? Are they married or single? What are their interests and hobbies?  
• Conduct interviews or surveys. There’s no better way to get accurate information about your target audience than by asking them directly. You can run social media polls, send out email surveys, or conduct online interviews.

Failing to Adapt and Evolve

Customer behaviors, social and market trends, and customer needs and wants shift from time to time. Even if you do your research and create a solid plan, you’ll eventually need to change your plans over time.  

It's important to quickly adapt to these changes and evolve with your target audience so you will remain relevant to them. It’s also a way to futureproof your business.  

This is why you should always stay on your toes. Learn from your mistakes, never stop gathering new information about your target audience, be in the know of the latest trends, and keep on experimenting with new product features, expanding your business, entering a new market, and whatnot.  

Reaching Out to People Who Can’t Buy from You

When doing your targeting, make sure to factor out people who are unwilling or unable to buy from you.  

No matter how interested someone may be, no purchase will be made if they don’t have the money to buy your goods.  

Always think about the people you’re trying to reach and ask yourself if they can actually afford your offerings. Or, if you’re targeting prospects overseas, you should consider the possibilities of shipping to their countries.

Looking for an Internet Marketing Company in Miami?

Once you know who your target audience is and what they're like, it'll be easier for you to set the right pricing, send the right message, make irresistible offerings, and align your entire business to meet their needs and wants!

With the help of this blog, you’ll know what targeting mistakes to avoid. That way, you can start running ad campaigns that will surely attract qualified traffic, convert leads, and turn them into loyal customers.  

Need help with figuring out who your target audience really is and how to reach them online? We got you!  

At Digital Resource, our team of digital marketing experts can do thorough research about who your ideal customers are, what marketing channels they're most receptive to, and how exactly you can reach out and connect with them through these platforms.  

Contact us today for a free consultation!

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