Friday, December 16, 2022
What takes you longer… tidying your desktop or tidying your house?
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 The importance of knowing your target customer
📦 Why mobile apps are the competitive edge you need in 2023
📦 Researching your ideal customer, creating personas, and marketing to them
📦 Everything you need to keep your customers happy (all in one platform)
📦 Diapers, the party of a lifetime, and sunscreen for harsh rays
Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎
👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe, so you never miss out.
All good marketing comes down to one golden rule…
🟨 Thou shall know thy target customer 🟨
Understanding your target customer is critical to good copywriting, product development, advertising, branding… pretty much everything that comes with running a successful business.
Everything you do as a marketer should be with your target customer in mind.
In fact, it’s so important that there are hundreds of guides, books, courses, consultants, and services dedicated to helping you nail your ideal customer.
In other words… this sh*t can get real complicated, real fast. 😵
However, “complicated” is not in our vocabulary here at DTC (we want to make your life easier, not harder).
Identifying your target customer doesn’t need to be rocket science — but it DOES take some effort and critical thinking.
So today, we’re giving you a 3-step, brass-tacks guide on how to find your perfect match! 👇
🔎 Step 1: Research your target customer
Diving deep into market research (or, as we like to call it, reconnaissance 🕵️) is the first step in narrowing down your target customer.
During your research, you’ll want to gather basic demographic and psychographic information on your target customer, including:
Keep scrolling for a few places to start your research! 👇
Mobile Shopping Apps Are A Must For 2023 📱
If you're an avid DTC Reader (first off, thank you!), you know that last month we talked A LOT about how mobile apps are the competitive edge marketers and DTC brands need in 2023.
Why? Because...
Nearly 70% of consumers have downloaded a mobile shopping app, and all the fastest-growing DTC brands are tapping into this.
How? 🤔
They are investing in mobile apps. 📱
Now is the time to quickly and easily level up your mobile app game with Tapcart.
Tapcart is the #1 revenue-generating mobile app builder for brands on Shopify.
With a mobile app, your abandoned cart campaigns and drop announcements will stand out above typical SMS alerts. 🔔
👉 Tap into the mobile shopping experience your customers prefer with Tapcart!
BONUS: As a DTC subscriber, you can get your first month free!
1️⃣ Your existing customers
No brainer, right? The best place to start your research is with the people that already shop with you!
Interview your existing customers (in person, via email, survey, on the phone, etc.) and ask them questions like:
2️⃣ CS and sales reps
Your Customer Service and Sales teams speak to your customers the most, which means they’re probably sitting on a treasure trove of information: who’s buying from you, why they’re buying, what they like about your products, and perhaps most importantly, what they don’t like.
So, talk to your CS and sales reps. Ask them about the customers they interact with, like:
The responses you get from customers and CS/sales alone will surely be a goldmine of information for understanding your ideal target!
3️⃣ Online sleuthing
Next, poke around places on the internet related to your product/service/industry and see what information you can find about the people hanging out there.
In this Twitter thread, Chase Dimond drops some great examples, like:
4️⃣ Your competitors
Competing brands may have a very similar target audience, although it’s essential to make sure you’re differentiating yourself!
That’s why studying your competitors is so valuable: it provides insight into what types of shoppers might also resonate with your brand and where your competitors might be lacking.
Alright, now that you have tons of detailed notes, on to the next step…
Gladly Connect is to CX = Swifties is to Taylor Swift
💃 Swifties are obsessed with T. Swift. Bookworms are obsessed with #BookTok. And Gladly is obsessed with…
Customers.
Gladly is an all-in-one customer service platform with everything you need to keep your customers happy. And we mean EVERYTHING.
Not only does Gladly offer the solutions to help you delight customers, but they also have an awesome community that gives you expert insight into all things customer service. 💯
When you join Gladly Connect Community, you can:
👉 Don’t leave your Swifties customers hanging. Join the Gladly Connect community now.
👥 Step 2: Create your customer persona
At this point, you should have a basic understanding of your ideal customer demographics. So, what do you DO with all that information?
Time to create your customer persona(s)!
🧑 A customer persona brings your target audience to life
Your persona is a fictional character that represents your customer base but ideally, you want to think about them as if they were a real person and not just a list of demographics.
This will allow you to “get into your customer’s head” and create messaging specifically for them. You can even name your personas and give them a face!
For example, a company that sells Cat Grass (yes, it’s a thing!) may have the following customer persona:
Lucy: Cat Loving, Coffee-Sipping Millenial
Lucy is a 29-year-old barista with a household income of $45,000. She’s single and lives with a roommate in Austin, TX, and her two cats. She refers to her cats as her “fur babies,” and while she doesn’t have a ton of disposable income, she always makes sure her cats have what they need to keep them happy and healthy. In her free time, she loves to sip on vanilla lattes and read historical fiction novels.
And don’t stop at just one persona! Most brands will want to create 2-4 customer personas to represent the variety of customers that shop with them.
⭐️ Step 3: Put it into practice
Now that you have an idea of your ideal customer demographics, plus a few buyer personas to really bring them to life, it’s time to put it all to good use.
📢 Create products that your customer personas would love
📢 Write to them when crafting copy
📢 Use the same words they use
📢 Advertise where they hang out
📢 Design your branding to appeal to their tastes
In other words…
Always market to your ideal customer.
Need some practical examples?
🙏 We hope this gives you a strong foundation for nailing your ideal customer!
If you can take the time to understand your perfect shopper better, it will transform your marketing efforts. You’ll be able to acquire *qualified* new leads, improve conversion rates, keep existing customers longer, create products that sell, and run campaigns that crush. 🔥
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