Have you ever seen an ad, email, or other marketing message that speaks so perfectly to what’s on your mind that you can’t help but listen, read, or click? If so, the reason it got to you at just the right time and in just the right way is likely the result of a marketing strategy built around specificity. As you build your own marketing strategy, narrowing your focus – from who you’re targeting to what you’re telling them – will help you get to the right customers quickly and make the kind of impact that converts. Here are a few steps you can take:
Segment your audience: The average person sees thousands of marketing messages every single day. If you want them to notice yours, you have to speak directly to their lives, their challenges, and their That means you need to go beyond just identifying a set of industries, job titles, or broad demographics to target. Segmenting your audience into smaller subsets (for example, those in the suburbs vs. those in the city; those who lead teams vs. those looking to move into leadership; etc.) gives you a better understanding of who your ideal customers are – and, more importantly, what they really care about. Once you know that, you can build copy, creative, and touchpoints around the information and solutions most valuable to them (and give them more concrete reasons to convert).
Update service offerings: Once you’ve narrowed your audience into focused segments, take a look at your product and service offerings. Are there any additional ways you can help address your audiences’ challenges? Is there a service you’ve been marketing to one audience that might be relevant to another as well? What pathways can you create for each audience to move from one product or service to another? Tailoring your services – or creating upsells – based on specific audience segments can help you build your niche, stand out from competitors, and better communicate your value to prospects.
Use direct CTAs: Being too direct at the wrong moment can come off as pushy and alienate potential customers; but being too vague can equally cost you conversions if your audience isn’t clear on what they can do with the information you provide. When you’re building out messaging for different marketing initiatives, be specific about the next action your audience should be taking. Do you want them to attend an event? Download a lead generation form from your website? Check out the article you just published? Sign up for a new program you’re launching? Refer you to someone in their network? All of these desired actions are valuable, but they’re also all very different. The clearer you make it for your audience to move down the funnel, the more likely they are to do so.
Establish expertise: Aside from being the perfect foundation for a great PR strategy, thought leadership content is used by over half of business decision-makers to vet potential vendors and partners – and specificity is key to establishing the level of expertise that will make prospects choose you over your competitors. When you have a detailed understanding of your customers and their problems, you can speak to much more than the common advice or insight from your industry. You can drill deeper and address challenges that no one else is talking about yet.
In a world where the internet gives businesses near-instant access to a globe full of prospective customers, it pays to get as specific as possible. These tips are a great starting point for making sure your messages are not just resonating, but consistently converting prospects into clients. For more help leveraging specificity in your marketing, contact us.
