Picking the Right Media to Reach Your Ideal Client

In a recent blog post, we talked about how to identify your ideal client and what to say to them. Now that you know who they are, let’s move on to the science of choosing the right media to convey your message.

You have a good idea of your ideal client’s age, gender, education levels and their income. You know what they like and what they don’t. When you sit down on the couch, you can practically imagine having a conversation with them.

The next big challenge is finding a way to have that conversation. There are a lot of choices these days— print, TV, radio, podcasts and email, just to name a few.

Which one is going to get you the results you want?

To figure that out, you’ll want to get back to your customer profile. You already know who you’re marketing to. What you need to find out is where they’re getting the information that informs their buying decisions. Where are they going to discuss their problems and concerns? Where are they going to find the answers?

The first obvious answer is online. Think of it from the potential customer’s point of view. How would they go about finding you? Use keywords for customer problems in a Google search. If that search takes you to online trade journals, forums or directories, then you know you need to establish a presence there.

Speaking of trade journals and online forums, these can be invaluable places for you to advertise or write guest articles for.

If you haven’t already, find out where the most active communities are for your particular product or service. For example, if you’re dealing in vintage car parts, find out where similar enthusiasts are meeting and make sure you’re an active part of the group.

There are also services like Google Alerts. Use these alerts so that you get notified when any new mention of your specific product or service comes up. Once you know about these places, you can quickly respond to questions or complaints. The important thing is to be where your clients are.

Facebook is another way to get your message out. The social media giant has a number of tools that can help small businesses, including Ads Manager where you can create and manage your advertising. Using these tools, you can narrow down your potential audience by age, gender and other demographics as well as by interests and then micro-target them.

There’s also email, especially if you use a great automation platform. While not everyone is a Facebook expert, pretty much everyone has email. Work on building your email list by encouraging visitors to sign up. Offer them exclusive content and perks if they do. If you have good content, these visitors will in turn refer others, letting your client base build itself. In a sense, you’re not finding you’re ideal client here— you’re letting them find you.

Picking the right media to reach your ideal client can be just as important as identifying them. You have a lot of tools at your disposal. Be sure to choose the right one (or ones) for the job.