The Strategy
– Target the people who can afford your stuff
– Forget the rest for now
– Hone your product offering to these people
– Tell them about it
– Close the deal
The Detail
It’s tempting to try and attract as many different types of people to your website or shop as possible but your marketing efforts won’t be effective unless you are targeting people who can afford what you make. This is your target market. Concentrate on these people first and forget the rest. You can always start aiming at other markets later but if sales are slow you need to ensure the right people know you have what they are looking for. Marketing to four different types of customer will confuse people and if the other three groups make up less than 5% of sales, you need to forget about them. Attract more of the people you do business with already. It makes sense, but it’s easy to forget.
Once you’ve identified who this group are, hone your message for them and them only. Find out what they respond to, share how your product benefits their lives and what needs it will fulfill. You share your message through your advertising, marketing and PR activities and if it’s on point, it will drive people to your website.
When they get to your site you need to close the deal. There is no point attracting people to your website if you let yourself down by not presenting yourself professionally. Your aim is to present your work in away that your target market will respond to, making it hard for them to leave without buying anything.
Pay close attention to:
- Your Photos– these must be clear, in focus, big enough and detailed. If in doubt get a book to help you or use a professional.
- Detailed descriptions– write descriptions sharing why your products fit into the lives of your target audience. Yes they want to know about dimensions and materials but they also need to desire what you’ve created. Build that into your descriptions and your sales will increase.
- Easy to use, professional looking website– Website usability can make potential customers run away in frustration without buying anything. Make sure everything on your site works and is intuitive to use. Get a website review if you want to know what changes you need to make. Or book a web designer if your site is looking less than professional. No-one will want to spend money on a site they don’t trust. If it looks like your ten year old brother built the site for his homework, it’s time to get a revamp.
- Contact details and policies– Put these near the top and make them easy to see. People don’t want to be searching around for hours just to work out how to contact you.
- Clear call to action– do you want them to visit your shop page to buy, contact you to order or request a quote? If you don’t tell them, they won’t know and they won’t do it!
Is there anything else I’ve missed?
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