Do you ever think of your customer’s world view? I am sure you do – either consciously or most often than not, unconsciously. In this article I would like to encourage you to think more consciously about your customer’s world view and how that would benefit your brand.
Any business thrives and succeeds when it can identify the right target market and then craft it’s brand message to fit that audience like a glove. Even if your product or service is top of the range, your brand and your bottom-line would suffer if your message and brand story does not cater to your target market’s world view. Therefore it is essential to understand and then craft your marketing message to the world view that makes sense to your customers and potential customers.
So what exactly is a world view?
It is essentially a combination of their life styles, life experiences, expectations and desires. Every one has a world view. It is how we look at and interact with the world. It is how we behave and impact the world around us.
Don’t get carried away with demographics
Demographics are a great starting point when you are trying to understand who your ideal customer is. But they are only a starting point and can be at best vague. Perhaps your ideal demographic are young men in the age group 19-27, work in the tech industry, subscribe to Wired and Forbes and earn more than 50K per year. So what does this tell you?
Can you craft a marketing message to target this demographic effectively?
How about if your ideal customer was called Steve, who is 25 and loves all things geeky, is a big fan of the Star Wars movies, buys tickets to comic con well in advance, has a passion for coding, HTML and CSS, loves to hang out at Starbucks and is learning Japanese as a hobby? Do you not feel like you know Steve? Can you imagine writing the copy of your website or your marketing material that would speak to Steve?
Learn To Speak The Language
Time and again I see small businesses speaking in a language they understand and are used to. If you are close to your business, over a period of time, you are bound to speak in a high level language, full of jargon, which assumes that the audience would instantly know what you are trying to say. However, the target audience may not grasp the essence of your message because they do not understand you. There is no traction, no conversion and no positive result.
When you are writing marketing copy or your service offering or even a blog post, simplify your message and ensure that that it fits the worldview of your audience. If you are trying to get Steve to pay for a gym membership then talking about the state of the equipment your gym has or the qualifications of the personal fitness coaches would not really connect with Steve. He would not care. Talk to Steve about your new program that helps coders and IT professionals become fit and active and help with posture and form. This is exactly how one of our clients put their story forward with much success.
What do they believe in?
Understanding the belief system of your target market is fundamental to being successful in any business. Some startup businesses get this right away and become wildly successful while others lumber around with out a clue and ultimately go crashing down. Investing in identifying the core beliefs of your ideal customers would have great ROI.
Our belief systems dictate our decision making process. They determine whom we trust and how we buy. They dictate our purchasing patterns and our pain and pleasure points.
What are their core values?
Understanding the core values of your market would enable you to align your brand’s core values to them to create synergy. They also tell you what is important to your customers. Knowing that enables you to craft your marketing message that reinforces that importance. This ultimately results in trust building and eventual conversion.
Here are 3 quick ways of identifying the world view of your customers:
1) Place your self in their shoes. Empathise with them and try and imagine to be them. I find it quite helpful to actually write a short letter to Steve explaining why you think he is your ideal customer.
2) Interview your ideal customer. Asking questions not related to your service or product will give you an insight into your ideal customers mind. Pick their mind on what motivates and excites them.
3) Identify their context. Knowing the context surrounding your ideal customer’s challenges and goals can provide you with great insight into what they value and how they would behave.
