Before you start asking how to run Facebook ads or a webinar or podcast—you need to ask yourself WHY you are doing these things? More often than not the answer is to generate more sales, but the answer should be more in depth than that.
Yes, you want to make more money, but WHOM do you want to make money from? Who is your target audience? Who are you trying to reach through your podcast, online advertising, etc.?
Once you have narrowed this down then you can work on a plan on how to reach them.
Erin Marshall, of Chameleon Online Business Management, spoke with me about why you need to be intentional when it comes to your audience as well as how to find that audience. Many people start marketing without a plan and this ultimately results in poor sales and frustration.
Why is having an intentional audience important?
Not every marketing tactic works for every audience. Not every audience is keen to sign up and watch a webinar, and not everyone’s audience will respond to Facebook ads.
You need to have a solid idea on how you want your marketing tactics to work. There are many important marketing tools, but just because they work for someone else, does not mean they will work well for your business. When listening to someone else’s podcast, webinar, etc. remember that they created that message for their audience and it may not work as well for yours.
When a business sets up a webinar, it is through careful consideration and work to find out what motivates you—and you are their audience. They worked hard to figure out whom it was they wanted to speak to, how to find you, how to speak to you and how to motivate you to sign up and move forward with them. You need to figure out how you can get your audience just as excited to listen and respond to your messages.
Can you have success with a small mailing list?
You can be successful with a small mailing list or audience, providing those on your list are the right matches for you. You need to narrow down who your ideal client is and build your relationship with them based on what makes them ideal.
When you market to the right people you will see a better return on investment.
The more people who are on your list who are truly not interested may be marking your emails as spam and therefore not even seeing your messages. Wouldn’t you rather be taking the time to create messages for people who are actually interested in what you have to say?
How to have an intentional audience
Create a description about your “Who?”. Make it as in depth as possible. Then write out who you are and what you do. Once you have this you should then work on creating a free value-add, for example a free opt-in that offers a solution of some kind that clearly demonstrates how you can be of help to them. This opt in will encourage people to give you their email address in exchange for something that can help them. You can then nurture these contacts through a sales funnel that will inevitably show potential clients what else you can offer them through more value-added content.
You want to use your sales funnel to build a relationship with your contacts and show them what you have to offer. This sales funnel should lead to your end goal, i.e. a coaching program, an online program, product, etc.
Think of your sales funnel like dating: When you first meet and go out on a date with someone new you are more than likely not going to immediately ask them to marry you—you are going to take the time to get to know them and vice versa. No one likes to commit unless they are sure—this includes investing in a new business or product.
So, how can you get to know your potential clients better and how can you provide potential clients the information they need to get to know you better?
Leave a comment and let me know if you have any other questions and how you're going to be more intentional when it comes to your audience.
