An essential element for successful customer acquisition is representing the target group.
In addition to private customers, business customers represent the classic target group of companies. This is narrower than in the case of private customers but still represents a heterogeneous customer group. The number of customers is lower, but the sales per individual customer are higher. In B2B marketing, customers are usually also entrepreneurs and, therefore, professional buyers.
But in this case, too, a target group analysis is, of course, worthwhile. You can use the following criteria to narrow down the group of companies that are potential customers:
- Which industry does my potential business customer belong to?
- In which region is the company based?
- How big is the company? How many employees are there, and what is the turnover?
- What phase is the company in? Is it still in its infancy as a start-up, or is it an established company?
- What price can the potential business customer pay, and what is he willing to pay?
- What buying behavior does the business customer display? What is its frequency of purchase, and what influences the purchase decision?
The persona principle explained above can also be used when analyzing a B2B target group. Because here, too, a person communicates with another person. You will deal with a specific company contact person you want to win as a customer. However, the persona is designed according to other characteristics:
- What role does the person play within the company
- How much responsibility does she have?
- What motivates you?
- What requirements does it place on me as a business partner?
- What would you like to achieve for your company through cooperation?
As always, describe your target group’s buying behavior and characteristics as precisely as possible. But do not lose focus.
How Much Effort do I Put into the Target Group Analysis?
How much time, nerves, and intensity you invest in analyzing your target group depends on the size of your project. Launching an unknown product requires a closer look at your customers than developing a marketing strategy for an established brand. The customer only uses a service if there is a specific problem. For example, if he needs a new windowpane or a fresh web design.
The Foundations Stone for Your Success
Once you have successfully determined and analyzed your target group, you can reach your potential customers individually and in a targeted manner. Irrelevant customer groups are eliminated through a thorough target group analysis. You save time and money if you do not even address the wrong groups of people. You can also use market segmentation to assess the market potential of your product or service. The larger your target group is, the higher the chance that many customers will enjoy your product.
How do I Create the Profile of my Persona?
Putting yourself in a single, albeit hypothetical, person is more accessible than in an anonymous group. Your persona teaches you to understand the wishes and needs of your target group. Persona also helps you find weaknesses in your service or product, eliminate them, and adapt them better to the needs and wishes of your customers.
If you could define the representatives of your relevant target group, you determine a persona for each of them, who represents them by age and gender. Please give her a name and a personal description to put herself in the best possible position. Think about the persona’s career and how her private life is structured. The following points will help you shape your character. At this point, you must always keep an eye on your product!
- What goals does the person pursue?
- What is particularly important to her?
- What wishes does the person have?
- What can it benefit from?
- What are the needs of the person?
- How is the everyday life of the person?
- What problems does the person have?
- What environment is the person in?
- What hobbies and interests does the person have?
- How does the person communicate? Which social networks does he use?
In a further step, you ask specific questions that relate to the consumption behavior of the persona:
- Where and how does the person look for products or services?
- Where and how does the person get information about products?
- Who or what influences the person’s decision?
- Which factors harm the person’s decisions?
- How much of the budget is available to the person?
- How high is the person’s need for security?
The list of features can be expanded as required. Your persona profile will be refined accordingly so that you can define your target group with it.
Briefly, this means you must weigh the necessity and intensity to determine your target group. It depends on the type of service, the industry, the product, or the campaign. The costs you can and want to spend are also essential if you define a target group.
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