Tell The Right Person

Welcome to blog #2 in the five part series on the “Right Marketing.” This blog is centered around telling the right person: Targeting, Segmenting, ICP and Persona creation.

To effectively reach your target audience in marketing, you must truly understand your customers. This involves a multi-faceted approach, including segmenting your audience, defining Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), creating detailed personas, and implementing a targeted strategy.

Segments - Beyond Verticals:

When determining your customer base, segmentation is can really help categorize your prospective markets and allow you to focus on more profitable or faster growing segments. Segmentation is not just industry verticals, though that is the most common segmentation you see. True segmentation goes beyond simply categorizing customers by industry verticals and looks deeper into a groups buyer behaviors, as different groups of customers may have distinct needs, timing or preferences. Effective segmentation considers various factors such as customer behavior, demographics, and psychographics. By understanding these nuances, you can tailor your marketing strategies to connect with customers on their terms.

ICPs - The Right Companies to Target:

Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) outline the characteristics of the companies you should target. This includes factors like company size, number of employees, the technology they use, and their geographic location. Creating well-defined ICPs enables you to focus your resources on companies that are most likely to benefit from your products or services. It's about finding that sweet spot where your offerings align perfectly with a company's needs and having a higher probability they will benefit from your product or service.

Personas - Understanding the People:

Personas take you even closer to your target audience by delving into the individuals within your target companies. These are the influencers, decision-makers, and users or your product and service. Personas can include details such as job titles, goals, budgets, responsibilities, and challenges they face. By crafting personas, you can tailor your messaging, content and approach to resonate with the specific needs and pain points of these individuals.

Being Targeted Matters:

Targeting is more than just a buzzword; it's a strategic necessity. The saying "Aim small, miss small" underscores the importance of precision in marketing. It means that by narrowing your focus to a well-defined audience, you reduce the chances of missing the mark. Targeting is often an exercise in saying “no” because it requires a realistic assessment of your resources and identifying which (and how many) markets are reachable. Understand what you have at your disposal and plan accordingly; Marketing teams of less than a half dozen doesn’t have the capacity to tackle every target you feel has value – we must be selective, i.e. targeted. Targeting doesn't mean spreading yourself too thin; it means concentrating your efforts where they'll have the most impact.

Understanding the Problem They're Trying to Solve:

Knowing your customers goes beyond demographics. It's about comprehending the problems they're trying to solve. This can vary among different segments and ICPs. Each persona within these groups may have unique pain points and goals which differ than the other personas within the same company. For example, a developer wants an SDK and tech that’s easily implemented, where a Product Manager from the same company wants a reliable solution with a reasonable price tag. Understanding what success looks like for them, whether it's increased revenue, better customer experiences, or cost savings, is essential in planning your messaging, content and tactics to address each persona.

Testing Your Insights:

To validate your segments, ICPs, and personas, testing is crucial. Utilize internal CRM data, conduct lead analysis, and engage in win/loss analysis. Customer advisory boards and direct conversations with your customers provide invaluable insights. Perhaps this testing isn’t as easy to evaluate as an A/B subject line test, but if you’re listening it ensures your understanding of your customers remains accurate and up-to-date.

Telling the ‘right person’ in marketing is the first step to effective marketing. It means delving into segmentation, creating precise ICPs, crafting detailed personas, and implementing a targeted strategy. It also involves understanding the specific problems your customers are trying to solve and continuously testing and validating your insights to ensure you stay on the right track. If you understand who the ‘right person’ is and how to effectively communicate with them, your marketing has a shot – but without it, you might as well market to a brick wall.