π How to Find Your Target Audience as a Handmade Business Owner π
Oct 15, 2024π§ Listen to this blog post as a Podcast instead #22 Discover Your Target Audience: Tips for Online Handmade Business Owners
π How hard is for you, as a handmade business owner, to identify and understand your target audience?
π Every single part of your handmade business must be linked back to your target audience.
β‘οΈ Steph has you covered in this episode. Explaining why this foundation is vital for your handmade business, steps to find and understand your target audience including demographics and psychographics.
π Methods such as self-reflection, observing the people around you and past customers, direct engagement with potential customers and leaning into attracting your target audience through social media marketing and market research.
Laying the Foundations of Your Business
As a handmade business owner, your target audience is the foundation upon which your entire business is built. It's the bedrock that everything else - your marketing, product development, branding, and sales copy - must be anchored to. Without a clear understanding of who you're creating for, your business is at risk of crumbling, no matter how much effort you put into other areas. We can never know too much about our target audience.
In this in-depth guide, we'll walk through a step-by-step process to help you identify, understand, and connect with your ideal customer. By the end, you'll have a detailed profile of your target audience that you can refer back to again and again as you grow your handmade business. You’ll love it and so will your business !!! Woo Hoo !!!
Step 1: Reflect on Yourself
The first step in finding your target audience is to look inward. Most of the time the people you're trying to reach are often a reflection of your former self - the person you were before you started your handmade business… mind blowing !
Think back to the struggles, frustrations, and pain points that led you to create the products you sell. What was your life like at that time? Think of YOUR demographics - how would you describe yourself? - your age, location, family status, income level, and so on? And more importantly, what were the psychographic factors driving your behaviour - your interests, values, goals, and the emotions you were experiencing?
By honing into your own experiences, you can start to build a profile of your target customer. This will give you a solid foundation to build upon in the next steps.
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Step 2: Observe Your Existing Customers
The next step is to look outside of yourself and observe the people who are already engaging with your brand. If you are anything like me you’ll love this part. Dig into the data you have access to - customer reviews, social media interactions, purchase histories, and any other information you can gather.
- What are the demographics of your current customers? Look at factors like age, gender, location, income level, and family status.
- What are the psychographic traits of your customers? What are their interests, values, goals, and pain points?
- What kind of language do they use when interacting with your brand? Pay attention to the words and phrases they employ. Are they formal or casual?
- What other brands, products, or online communities do they engage with? This can provide valuable insights into their broader interests and preferences.
Spend as much time as you need deeply immersing yourself in this data - when I did this for my business it took at least a month. This might sound like A LOT of time but, I pinky promise it’s sooooo worth it! The more you can uncover about your existing customers, the better you'll be able to refine and expand your target audience profile.
Step 3: Directly Engage with Your Audience
While the first two steps provide a solid foundation, the final step is to go directly to the source and ask your target audience for their input. This may feel uncomfortable, but it's an essential part of the process. You’ll find that people actually love talking about themselves - especially if it’s with a handmade business they love.
Leverage the power of social media to connect with your audience and gather direct feedback. Create polls, surveys, and open-ended questions to learn more about their demographics, psychographics, pain points, and desires. Don't be afraid to get specific - the more detailed the information you can gather, the better.
Some sample questions you could ask:
- What is your age, gender, and location?
- What is your current occupation and income level?
- What are your biggest struggles or frustrations when it comes to [your product category]?
- What are your top priorities and values when it comes to purchasing handmade goods?
- What other brands, products, or online communities do you engage with?
Be sure to make this a regular practice, revisiting your target audience profile at least twice a year. Your customers' needs and preferences will evolve over time, so it's crucial to stay on top of these changes.
Bringing it All Together
By following these three steps, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of your target audience that you can use to guide every aspect of your handmade business. Here's what your final target audience profile might look like:
Demographics:
- Age: 35-45 years old
- Gender: Primarily female
- Location: Urban and suburban areas in the Midwest United States
- Occupation: Working professionals, often in creative or service-based fields
- Income level: Middle to upper-middle class, with a household income of $60,000 - $100,000
- Family status: Married with young children (ages 2-10)
Psychographics:
- Interests: Home decor, DIY projects, entertaining, travel, health and wellness
- Values: Sustainability, supporting small businesses, creating a cosy, welcoming home environment
- Goals: Decorating their home in a unique, personalised way, finding high-quality, handmade products to gift to friends and family
- Pain points: Feeling overwhelmed by the demands of work and family life, struggling to find the time and energy for creative projects
- Frustrations: Difficulty finding affordable, customizable home decor that aligns with their personal style
With this detailed profile in hand, you can now make informed decisions about every aspect of your handmade business - from product development and pricing to marketing and sales strategies. Your target audience will become the guiding light that ensures every move you make is aligned with the needs and desires of the people you're trying to reach.
Remember, understanding your target audience is an ongoing process. As your business evolves and your customers' needs change, be sure to revisit and refine your target audience profile regularly. By staying closely connected to the people you serve, you'll be able to create products and experiences that truly resonate, leading to increased sales, loyalty, and long-term success.
π₯³ Do you want to learn more? π₯³
We’ve got loads of resources to help you scale your handmade business:
1οΈβ£ β¨Are you starting a new business? Here's my best resources:π Start here π
2οΈβ£ β¨Want to be visible and get more traffic? Here's my recommendations: πGet seenπ
3οΈβ£ β¨Ready to grow your business? Here's your to-do list: π Grow here π
ππ»ππ» Choose your own adventure with these resources ππ»ππ»
β¨ My book “how to be a handmade boss” is like a super intensive course on getting your first sales (plus, it’s a book/workbook hybrid!) π Find out more here
β¨ The Shop Doctor - Shop not doing so great? Getting views but no sales? No views at all? Overwhelmed with it all? Check out the shop doctor: π Join here
β¨ My FREE masterclass on how to increase your Etsy conversion rate. It's the KEY thing most Etsy sellers miss when trying to make more money and get more sales in 7 days. π Join here
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