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| by Heavy Metal Picks on etsy |
I did a bit of research and discovered that the folks reading my blog, Artful Rising, are considerably younger than I imagined. They are also more likely to have a college degree, have at least one child, and are female.This is important to know if I thought I would start blogging about fixing up car motors or where to retire right at this moment--the reception would not be that great. It also might explain the positive response to the opening of my second shop -- with a focus on inspirational products which ties in with my blog.
At the beginning of the year I completed worksheets created by April of Blacksburg Belle. (I tried to find her old posts but cannot find them on her site). The questions helped to narrow down my interests and what I wanted to accomplish with either my blog or a shop. In addition, etsy has recommended that you create fictional profiles of what your customer looks like (hair color, education, interests, job, hobbies) and this ties into your business.
Things to ask yourself:
*what is your intention with your blog/shop?
*what does your ideal customer look like? (grandparent, parent, teen, geek, etc)
*what is the best way to grab the attention of your ideal customer?
*what is the best way to keep their attention?
Please note that it is not recommended by marketers or by busy/successful etsy sellers to market to everyone. You cannot create a product for everyone and you will be much better served aiming for a niche audience. Example--a steampunk jeweler would not try to sell to my mom.
Read the follow-up post on the Artful Rising blog on how you can grow your business by giving your customers what they want.
QUESTION: Do you know your target audience?
Be sure to read the rest of our Audience series:
1.) Determine Your Target Audience
2). Be FANatical in Your Search for a Solution
3). Using Hootsuite to Grow Your Audience
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Today's guest blogger is Erika. She is the creator of Artful Rising where she encourages you to get-your-rear-in-gear to Create. Inspire. Change the World. Join the conversation today via the weekly Artful Rising Newsletter and receive your own ebook on following your dreams.
11 comments:
I have SUCH a hard time with this!!! Since I sell a lot of gifts, I really do sell to everyone! I've tried to narrow my audience, but I sell to such a variety of people!
Edi, I see that you sell to people that want customized gifts and the gifts capture a memory! At least, that is how I feel when I buy from you:)
Edi and Erika--I have a hard time with this one too! I think because I love so many things myself and love to do many things!! I do know that I am practical, and my practical gift items sell well. I think I need to do the exercise you mentioned about things to ask myself! It will help. Thanks!
With my dolls, I REALLY, really do not have any idea who my target audience is, though I do imagine that they're mostly women. I am SO normal, and there are more "normal" people out there than I think anyone would imagine that love weird little dolls.
Great tips, Erika! It is so important to target your audience and not to try to appeal to everyone. I will have to give those questions a try sometime.
I don't have a good idea either, except probably creative people (jewelers and artists), or people starting out their creative ways, would be interested in my shop... {:-D
Very good advice. I used this in my brick and mortars and it really helped us to reach out to the *right* people for our shops. The same is true for *any* business. Knowing *who* you sell to helps you in so many ways.
This is always something we should be thinking about but it's not always easy to remember to do so. My target audience is animal lovers but I think I go beyond that but not really sure how I'd classify it. It's too much to think about for me this week but I'll figure it out soon!
I think we often end up selling and marketing to people of similar demographics to ourselves, that's how it's worked out for me anyways. Thanks for the food for thought!
I think many of us (myself included) have a tough time picturing out ideal buyer, maybe because we want to appeal to everyone! But I am sure it is a useful exercise to analyze our audience, and to modify our products to suit that audience. Famous last words! Now I need to act on them.
I do know what type of customer I'm catering too, problem is, not sure if I'm reaching them through my blog!
Now if I had a brick-and-mortar I'd probably up my sales...
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