1. Know Your Audience. Sounds obvious, right?
You need to know WHO you your audience really is and HOW you can help them.
In fact, knowing who your audience is one of the most important things you can do to establish yourself as an authority in your market and grow your business. Whether you are a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, having deep knowledge of your target market allows you to position yourself better than your competition so that your message resonates with your ideal client directly and you can more easily demonstrate how you will get them results.
Take some time to understand your audience's likes and dislikes. What platforms are they on. Where do they get their info? Spend time on the websites they may be visiting, or participate in the same circles they are in, and on the social platforms that they are on.
Get to know the top, burning questions in your market. Find out what makes people tick, what they are responsive to, and what their triggers are. This will go the distance in later helping you create laser-targeted, effective marketing campaigns that will resonate with your core audience.
2. Always put yourself in your customers’ shoes. They don’t care about your personal goals – they care only about themselves and their needs - and above all else, how you will help them solve a problem they are facing.
Read that again: you’re the only one who truly cares about your business growth.
Everyone else just cares about how your business is going to help them get them their ultimate results. This means that your focus should always be on identifying key areas in your market where people are struggling and ways you can help.
3. Collect the Dots. Once you have a clear understanding of the issues and problem, you can use that information in many different areas of your business. I call this collect the dots before you connect the dots.
You can use all the various information to come up with customized products and services that fill that need, developing your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that offers a promise to solve that problem they are having and creating your marketing campaigns that attract your audience and trigger them into taking action.
4. Do Market Research: Thorough market research is the key to success when it comes to gaining the advantage of becoming an authority.
Those who overlook the importance of truly understanding their audience even before they create a business plan or launch a marketing campaign will quickly discover just how difficult it is to gain traction without this knowledge.
In fact, without knowing your audience, you’re venturing into a market blindfolded with little chance of success. On the flip side, putting time and effort into researching your market and connecting with your core audience early on, will make all the difference in your ability to create in-demand products and services that are a no-brainer for your customer base.
5. Be Where your Audience is. We just discussed the importance of getting to know your audience through market research so that you can position yourself in a way that people relate to, resonate with and believe in.
The next step is to be where your market spends most their time. Connect with people within the social platforms and websites they are already familiar with and actively use. Find out where your ideal customer spends their time online. Find out if they prefer Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or maybe it's LinkedIn. Knowing this will allow you to be part of the community.
Do your research and then join them there. You can be part of their discussions or posts that they might be viewing. Answer questions, ask questions, share insights around the problems that you solve. They will see you responding and come to see you as an expert.
When you participate, be authentic to your brand. Connect with them and share quality content. Add Value. Link back to one of your blogs or your website. Focus on delivering and adding value. Be objective and see if it truly answers their questions and addresses their main goals, fears or concerns. Did I say Add Value?
You’ll be able to stand out from the crowd, position yourself as an expert and easily convince people to give your brand and business a chance. And your marketing campaigns will be far more successful and ultimately, cost you less in terms of time spent tweaking and A/B campaigns. Because you’ll know exactly what makes people in your key audience tick.
When you have a better understanding of your audience you will be able to know how your customers feel when they look at your ads or read your content? What emotions do your communications, campaigns, and emails evoke?
Your solution is to demonstrate to them just how happier they’ll be when they are
not only able to share their content with the world, but with your help, they’ll be able to quickly maximize that exposure. All of this comes down to knowing your market so you can position yourself as the expert and authority they are looking for.
They’ll feel they need you, that you’re the solution to their problems and that you truly understand how they are feeling and what they need most.
That is how you’ll stand out in your market. Be the Authority in your Market.
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