You know who you are and what you bring to the table. Now you want to showcase your expertise and grow your business even more by creating and selling online courses. Who is your target audience? How do you find your people?
First thing is that you must be clear on who your ideal customer is. You must have a clear understanding of whom you’re selling to. In the world of marketing, this is sometimes referred to as a customer avatar or perfect customer.
A customer avatar is simply a clear representation of what the perfect customer looks like for your business. Use questions like these to fine-tune your customer avatar:
- Where does he/she live?
- How old is he/she
- What does he/she do for a living?
- Does he/she live in the suburbs, city, country etc.?
- What keeps him/her up at night?
- What are his/her hobbies?
- Does he/she hang out online? If so, where?
- What does he/she do online?
- Does he/she have a family?
- What is he/she likely to need with my products/services?
I know it sounds like a lot but the clearer you are on who you are selling to the better your chances of actually making a sale.
Your perfect customer isn’t everyone. So you must narrow your focus. You can’t be out here trying to talk to any and everyone. Most entrepreneurs who try to target everyone end of selling to no one.
So be sure to take time out to get clear about who you are targeting. Once you’re clear on that, how to find them online is a lot easier. Not only is how to find them easier but creating content and ways to engage with them is much easier too.
Once you’re clear on who you’re targeting, you’ll want to start your search for them online. This may take time due to having to figure out what works not only for you but also for them (as far as what tactics they respond to). Remember, much of online marketing is about pull vs push marketing (More on that later).
Now that you know WHO you’re talking to, how to find them is much easier. By profiling your perfect customer, you can better gauge what their preferred social media sites will be.
Example: Say you’re a successful high-end wedding planner, but you want to expand your business by offering courses online for the “do-it-yourselfers” who want to plan their own wedding. Your perfect customer avatar could look something like this:
Jane Doe:
- Jane is 30 years old and soon to be married.
- She wants the wedding that rivals all weddings, BUT she has a limited budget, or
- She wants the wedding that rivals all weddings, AND she thinks that she doesn’t need a wedding planner
- She’s career focused
- Her income is 150k/year
- She’s highly educated
- She’s a social butterfly
- Her preferred social media sites are Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook & Linkedin
- She’s a city resident
- She’s obsessed with all things bridal and beauty
- She lives on her phone and on social media
- She’s a selfie queen
- She’s impressed by name brands, labels and such
Just knowing these basic things about her should help you understand where she is online and what would get her attention.
Knowing this, you’d create killer online marketing content showcasing your wedding planning course. You’d make sure that you have stellar images as well as written and video content. You’d be sure to share client testimonials, showcase your work, show behind the scenes videos, share wedding tips and tricks, simply put, you’d speak her language by giving her what she wants to see and hear from you. In turn, she’s likely to follow you and tell others about your online training.
This is called pull marketing. You’re reeling your audience in by speaking their language, catering to their interests and showcasing your expertise. This is how you start to find your tribe or should I say, this is how your tribe starts to find you!
Knowing who you’re talking to and how to talk to them online is key to establishing your audience.
Sure it takes time but trust me, you can do it. People are doing it every day. Check out your competitors who are successfully using social media. If they can do it, you can too.
You’ve got this!