Anyone can start a business and slap a name on it hoping to make big sales, but what makes you unique from the rest?
When creating a new service or a product for your business, it’s important to start off by identifying who your target audience is, and how your company can solve their problem or address it in a new way.
As learned in our class readings, a target audience is a group of people who would likely be interested in your product/service. For example, you can cater your product/service to consumers based on their interests, age, gender or even socioeconomic status. Identifying these details is an important first step to creating an effective marketing plan so that you can advertise to the right audience, be cost-friendly, and save time on your end.
Photo Credit: Sprout Social
By understanding your customers on a deeper level, not only are you going to improve the profitability on your business, but you will also maintain a trusting relationship with your consumers.
Identifying your target audience as I mentioned should be one of your first steps but let’s look at ways you can keep that momentum going for your consumers and continue to attract them in the future.
Different companies have different tactics and examples of that can look like adding the customer to an email marketing list, sending specific discount codes to them, or even engaging with influencers that they follow and share your brands vision. Now that many companies moved into the digital sphere to act on their marketing strategies, it has become a lot easier to reach more customers, retain their interest and build brand loyalty.
Let’s look deeper into a mini case study. A great example of a company that has a specific target audience and does a good job marketing to them in a consistent manner is the clothing brand called Lane Bryant.
Lane Bryant is an American women-owned and women-led clothing brand that caters to plus size customers. They have a wide range of selections to choose from and they clearly target their products to women who are looking for trendy plus size clothing. When you go on their website, you are instantly encouraged to sign up on their mailing list in order to get information about their company, any promotions and discount codes. Once you start browsing, they make sure that you feel you are well-taken care of by their brand. They even have a personalized size guide that can help you find a specific sized clothing that would best suit you.
Photo Credit: Lane Bryant
Once the customer buys on their website, they don’t just stop there. Lane Bryant does a great job making sure that the customer is reminded that they are always there for their clothing needs. Once you go on social media, you will notice that Lane Bryant does a lot of collaborations and paid partnerships with popular plus size influencers and models. For example, influencers include Lauren Wambolt, Sierra Holmes and even Ashley Graham. With these partnerships, customers are constantly reminded that they are a reputable company worth going back to. As our guest presenter, Ebony-Renee Baker also said in class today…networking is key. Lane Bryant makes sure to utilize their networks and get in touch with the right influencers who share the brands vision to promote their work.
This is just one example of a company that checks off all the right boxes for creating an effective marking strategy however there are much more out there. This just shows that identifying your customer base and building brand loyalty will help your business thrive in the long run!
Written By: Brintha Manoharan
Date: September 26th, 2023