Julie Barile, Vice President of eCommerce at Fairway Market, says that "marketing is traditionally the means by which an organization communicates with, connects with, and engages its target audience to convey the value of and ultimately sell its products and services". In all my search for the definition of "marketing", one phrase keeps reflecting; "the target audience". This means that the reason companies invest in marketing is to reach "the target audience" that is, the specific group of customers that are most likely to want your product".

But do you know that in some instances, the target customers are not the right customers? Surprising right? Yes! By definition, target customers are people who might want your product or service. On the other hand, the right customers are those for whom your product or service meets their requirements, are in need of the product, and are willing to buy it in addition. The right customers are the ones who really show up because your product addresses their pain points and then pay for it. 

If we consider a fitness app, for instance, people who are interested in maintaining their health and may have thought about working out or keeping track of their progress are the target customers. But the right customers are those who are prepared to use the app frequently, adhere to exercise guidelines, and perhaps even pay for premium services in addition to wanting to maintain good health. These users (the right audience) download the app, set fitness objectives, keep track of their workouts, and may even upgrade to a premium plan for personalized coaching and more features. 

In any instance or scenario, the right customers are those who actively use your product or service and engage with even your social media posts, emails, or subscriptions, as the case may be.

So the main difference is that whereas the right customers are particular people who buy your product or service and become satisfied customers, target customers are a more general category. The point here is that you cannot sell to everyone. So even when a group of people is "interested" in your product, not all of them might "buy" it because the product does not meet their needs or they're not willing. Continue reading to learn about the mistakes you've been making in choosing the right customer for your business.

Mistakes businesses make when choosing their customer

Choosing a customer base can be as stressful as starting the business itself. Stressful because the target customers often influence the business idea. For instance, Airbnb was founded on the idea that people needed to lodge to be able to attend a design conference in San Francisco in 2007. While some businesses might find choosing their customers a stress-free process, others find it difficult and complex.

In the process, they make mistakes. Some of these mistakes are:

1. Ignoring market research

Market research is the first step any business should take in choosing a customer base. It revolves around gathering information about customer preferences, behaviors, market trends, and competition. Businesses that don't perform proper market research may end up basing their decisions more on speculation than actual data. Let's say a luxury fashion brand like Gucci wants to enter a new market like local fashion. The brand would be risking creating products that won't appeal to the target market without researching local fashion trends and consumers' preferences. 

2. Failure to specify the target market

According to CYDIR, more than 50% of the money spent on online advertisements is lost because the intended audience is not reached.

The reason is that they try to sell to everyone and anyone because they haven't been able to identify and specify who their target audience is. It shouldn't be so. You should be able to identify your target audience from the start and then try to narrow it down to the right audience, even though it's a very small group of people. Specifying a target market helps you choose your customer base since it enables you to connect with a particular demographic that is in need of your goods or services. 

3. Ignoring Demographics

Demographics refer to variables like location, gender, age, and income level. Neglecting these factors may result in goods or services that are inappropriate for the target market. For instance, a company that sells gaming consoles would probably have trouble making sales if it chose to target elderly people because they have little interest in gaming.

4. Picking the wrong channel for advertising

Businesses reach customers through a variety of online and physical platforms. However, businesses often make the mistake of selecting the wrong platform or channel to market their product/service. This is why auto dealers do not sell vehicles on Amazon because no one is looking to buy cars there. After you've determined your target audience, you'll need to know which platforms may be used to contact them. 

Here are some questions to answer when choosing a platform to communicate your business: Are your target customers accessible through that platform? What efforts and resources are needed to use that platform? And what about the platform's return on investment? Answering these questions helps you budget appropriately and know what to expect from any platform of your choice.

5. Communicating the wrong message

Marketing is communication and the only means of telling people what you do as a brand. You communicate this through your logo, colors, brand voice, etc., all backed by copy. During marketing, when you send out the wrong message, you create a disconnection with the target audience and also confuse them with your offering. Target customers become unsure of the brand's identity, values, or the value it provides, which might even prevent them from purchasing.

This is why you must consistently learn from megabrands like Apple. You notice that when the Apple iPhone was to be launched in 2007, the company took time to communicate the product to customers. The focus was on the features, the advantages, and why it was a must-have. Now if you're a beverage brand that's communicating cars in your marketing campaign, you know that you're already in the loss lane because you are telling people that your product cannot be trusted and that you're confused.

How to know when your target audience is not right for you

Before you know your right audience or customers, you must evaluate them. You can do this by analyzing engagement with your social media posts, your conversion rate, your customer lifetime value, and even your customer retention rate. If, at the end of the day, the evaluation doesn't show a higher ROI, then you're targeting the wrong audience. 

And when your customer base is not right for you, there are signs you'll see. Let me show you four of these signs:

1. When they're not concerned about what you say or offer

When people interact with your content, it usually indicates that they like it. And what you will see is higher engagement through likes, shares, comments, and CTR (click-through rates). Now, when engagement levels are poor, there's something wrong. It shows that there are people who are interested in your post, and there are also others who are not. 

Poor engagement could be natural if you've just updated your value proposition or content. Because your current audience may not respond in the same manner. At the same time, if your engagement doesn't improve after a long time of trying, then you're targeting the wrong customer.

2.  When your sales are consistently turned down

The aim of every business owner is to make sales and generate profit. And yes, rushing is not advised. But while patience and tenacity are key in sales, if you are consistently turned down, it may be time to reconsider your target markets. Although timing isn't always ideal and sales cycles can be lengthy, your target customers should be at least mildly interested in what you have to offer.

And if you conclude that you are targeting the right customer base, how many of them inquire about your product or service but never purchase it? What are their most prevalent reasons for rejection? By the time you're done answering these questions, you will realize that either you're targeting the wrong customer base or that something is wrong with your offering.

3. When your income isn't worth the investment

Now let me ask you, What's the worth of the reward for all your investment and marketing effort in your company? If the reward is not worth all your effort, this is another sign that you've been targeting the wrong audience all along. This is the reason many businesses walk away from prospects and even customers because they aren't simply a good fit for them. They do this to make room for those who are. Some companies go as far as pivoting if that's what they really need to scale or access the right audience. So if you're in this line, it means you've been giving your time and energy to the wrong people and need to restrategize.

4.  You keep getting critical reviews that are very unfair 

In our article on Perceived quality, I explained that one of the factors that influences perceived high quality is previous reviews of a product. These reviews serve as a mirror that reflects the quality of the product for new prospects to see. So imagine that all the people who have used your product or service give you bad reviews. Do you think you'll grow? The answer is a straightforward no.

On the other end, positive reviews reflect customers' pleasure, and yes, the quality of your offering is an important factor in this. But you need to know that even if the quality is excellent, buyers who aren't a good fit may not enjoy it. It's like serving Pepsi to avid Coke customers. No matter how good it tastes, they'll not be satisfied because they're served Pepsi and not Coke

I am making this illustration to emphasize that what justifies all the bad reviews you've been getting could be wrong targeting.

How to target the right customer 

There's a popular saying that "customers are always right". But entrepreneurs should know that customers are not always right. Why? Some customers are exploitative, employees' well-being needs to be protected, meeting every customer's demand can be financially unsustainable, and customers sometimes have expectations that are not feasible and might have to be cautioned. Toxic customers can result from the fact that a business is targeting the wrong customers.

Now let me take us through the strategies that businesses can follow to target the right customers:

1.  Understand Your Product or Service

Before you can target the right customers, you must first completely understand the ins and outs of what you're providing. What issue does your product or service address? Who stands to gain from it? Assuming you are in the organic skincare product line, your right audience is those who value natural ingredients and good skin. So your marketing efforts will all be aimed at this category of people.

2. Know your right customers 

Before trying to market your product, you should first know who your right customers are. Knowing your right customers before you begin marketing will help you increase sales. As I mentioned before, your right consumers are those who are in need of your product as a solution to their problems and are willing to buy it. If you know your right customers before marketing, you will be able to target your marketing directly at them and get them to choose you and not your competitors.

3.  Understand what your customers value the most

Marketing to the right customer base means knowing everything valuable to them as far as your product is concerned. In reaction to your competitors' moves, you must continue to drill down to their changing wants and preferences. You must be aware of your customers'' pain points as well as the aspects of your product that they value the most. 

You can understand their pain points through the survey. Surveys enable you to understand and connect with your valuable customers more effectively. Surveys are popular because they provide you with all of the information you require in a short period of time. Using personalized inquiries, you may get to know your customers even better.  

Remember, when conducting surveys, you are engaging your current customer base. Let's say your product is a new payment app, for instance. Surveys will help you know the features of your application and services that your customers value the most. You can also learn what features your customers expect from your product. 

4.  Make use of social listening

Do you know a long-standing customer can leave you for your competitors because your product's branding is no longer appealing to them? This is very possible. In today's competitive markets, brand experience is extremely important. You must go above and beyond to create a successful marketing strategy since your target customers need more than just items. Customers increasingly want brands that listen to them and meet their requirements.  

Social listening means leveraging social media platforms to know what your customers think of your product. Or the general discussion around your industry. If you recently changed your packaging, for instance, you can ask your customer base what they think about the new packaging. Just the same way you ask them to rate your product or their experience. Social listening is a great tool that can help you improve your branding, packaging, and even customer service.

5.  Be fast in responding to your Customers' needs

Your right customers deserve your undivided attention. To focus your attention on changing trends, emerging players, and breakthroughs, you must keep an eye on who genuinely matters. With all of this knowledge, you can market to your right customers far more effectively. Focusing on certain customers allows you to narrow your scope and aim your efforts in the proper direction. It provides vital insight into other consumers' requirements and behaviors while allowing you to remain flexible and adaptive in today's most dynamic and unpredictable business ecosystem. 

6.  Consider targeting ads.

You are now ready to reach out to your right customers after you have aligned social listening with other strategies like market research. At this point, leverage targeted advertising on social media channels. And when selecting the target audience, it's best to be as open as possible while also adding specifics and narrowing your points. Remember that the goal is to reach out to potential customers with a message that is targeted at them. Here too, take into account different customer characteristics, demographics, what they value, and their income rate, among others.

Before you go...

Targeting the right customers is so important for the corporate success of your business. But it all begins with knowing the difference between target customers and the right customers. Mistakes such as failing to conduct market research and communicate the right message are common among businesses when they're trying to choose their customer base. Poor engagement, consistent sales rejections, inadequate returns, and negative reviews are all indicators that you're targeting the wrong customer base. 

Businesses must completely understand their offerings, identify the right customers, understand their values, employ social listening, and react to customer needs in order to effectively target the right customers. Targeted social media advertising has the potential to increase reach. The goal is not to please everyone but to serve those who actually need your service and would be satisfied when offered.

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