It’s a universal frustration every business owner goes through. You’re investing money into various marketing services, but nothing appears to be converting leads into customers. You send emails, post online ads, practice SEO, and yet still nothing is attracting the right customer. You have an extensive contact list but no one seems to be receptive to your business. You have a great service though! Even your current customers agree! So, what’s the deal? Here are some signs your marketing isn’t targeted:
Your target audience is too large and too diverse.
You catch yourself answering, “Anyone can be a customer!” when asked who your target audience is. As wonderful as being inclusive can be, it is not so great for your marketing strategy. Let’s say one in every ten people within your current target audience actually need your product or service. This means that you need to focus on that one person, rather than the nine who are not interested. Nobody wants to be known as the kind of company someone immediately unsubscribes from after receiving an unwarranted email. Those kind of poor practices lead to a bad reputation. You need to differentiate your target audience between those who could be a customer and aren’t ready to buy from those who are ready to buy.
There is no common understanding to who you’re trying to target.
If you ask your marketing manager who your target audience is, then ask a sales rep the same question and end up with different answers you might find yourself in a pickle. What does this mean for your company? It means there is a disconnect between departments’ efforts towards acquiring new business, and this is causing messaging clashes throughout the buyer’s journey. Your marketing team is currently targeting businesses in the retail industry while your sales team is regularly closing deals with those in the food & beverage industry. This requires more work for sales to personalize material for the food & beverage prospects, squandering efforts from the marketing team. It’s important to agree on a unified marketing and sales strategy so you are able to effortlessly attain new clients.
Your company is wasting time with unqualified leads.
You find out your sales team is wasting 90% of their time and resources on prospects who aren’t even looking for a solution or aren’t a right fit for your company. Your team receives daily inquiries from prospects that you can see are easily identified as unqualified, but your the team may not. They have spent hours talking on the phone, emailing, and sending contracts that could have been avoided in the very beginning and put towards more promising leads. For example, if you know your ideal client makes at least $10 million in revenue with 51-200 employees, then your sales team should dedicate more time towards those leads and less on businesses who do not meet that criteria. However, do not neglect businesses that aren’t ready to buy. Always treat and nurture those leads as they may be qualified buyers in the future!
Do any of these scenarios hit the nail on the head? If so, it’s time for you to take a step away from an ambiguous marketing strategy, and begin to create focused and ideal “buyer personas.” Make that transition from marketing to your target audience to your targeted BUYER. No more overgeneralization. You can cater to those targeted buyers by delivering relevant & timely material, personalize your approaches, and catch them while they’re hot! There is so much you can do to better reach your targeted buyers and in the end make operations easier for your marketing and sales team!