Wrong. YOUR customer is not everyone. YOUR customer is passionate about what you are offering. If you haven’t already come to this realization, I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, some people just don’t care about your passion.
Have you heard the saying that when you talk to everyone you are talking to no one? There is a lot of truth in this. Everyone is not interested in your message. We all have different likes, dislikes, and tastes. If you water down your message to appeal to the most people then it will not connect with those that share your passion and it will become background noise to everyone else.
The reality is that marketing is not about just attracting people to you, it is also about repealing those that have no interest. You want to connect with people that will LOVE what you are doing. You need to message specifically to these people. You will also want to talk to those that may have an interest in what you are doing but trying to attract everyone is simply a waste of your time and money.
There is a much higher return on investment (ROI) if you connect with and bring in a person that loves what you are doing. They are going to come back for the next purchase, visit, or event. They will become your next regular customer or subscriber. They are going to become your ambassador. They may even eventually become a donor. Investing in this core customer base will pay off time and time again.
Connecting with those that have some interest in your offerings is important too since they may not yet know how passionate they are about your work or they may end up liking your work enough to land in that ring of support around your core customers. You need these people too.
What you don’t need are people that don’t care. Even if you get them to come to your business, gallery, or event, they are likely to not have a good time, not return, and tell their friends about their unenjoyable experience. Best to leave them out of your circle. Let me give you an example of speaking to the wrong audience.
Groupon is very popular with with many businesses and organizations as a way to attract new customers. Well, Groupon buyers may be a new customer for you, but they are likely to not be a return customer. This group is really an customer of Groupon. They are in this group because they are passionate about getting a deal. These people are more motivated by the deal rather than what they are getting. This passion will only translate for you when you offer the next deal. Selling your service at a discount is probably not your goal. If you have extra capacity to give away, then great but be careful of relative pricing and giving your core customers a discount path when they likely would be willing to pay more.
If the Groupon displaced regular customers, then the money you lost by offering the Groupon could have been spent better through messaging targeted to your core customers. This investment will pay for itself many times over whereas the Groupon just provided a way to paper the house or provide some additional foot traffic. Don’t fall for the delusion that Groupons are building your customer base.
To find your core customer base, talk to your current core customer base. What drives them to your work? What value does it provide in their lives? How does it make them feel? Where do they hang out? What media do they consume? Once you have the answers to these questions you will have the messaging and methods to talk to YOUR customers.
