Who exactly are you marketing to?

Why "everyone" is the wrong answer

Ask a business owner who their customer is and the honest answer is often "anyone who needs us." That is true, but it is not useful for writing. A message aimed at everyone has to stay general, and general messages are easy to scroll past.

A specific reader changes how you write. A roofing company writing for "homeowners" might say "quality roofing at fair prices." The same company writing for "a homeowner who just found a water stain on the bedroom ceiling and is worried about the cost" will talk about fast inspections, clear quotes and what to do tonight to limit the damage. The second message still reaches plenty of people. It just reaches them with something they recognize.

You can have more than one customer type. The point is to write each piece for one of them at a time.

The five-line customer profile

Five plain lines are enough:

1. Who they are. Their situation in plain words. "A first-time car buyer in their twenties shopping for a reliable used car under a set budget."
2. What they want. The result they are after, in their terms. "A car they can trust that fits their monthly budget."
3. What worries them. The doubts that slow them down. "Being pushed into something they cannot afford, or buying a car with hidden problems."
4. The words they use. How they describe the problem out loud. "Good first car," "what can I afford," "is this a good deal."
5. Where they look. The places they go for answers. "Google searches, YouTube reviews, friends, and the dealership's own website."

Keep it to what you actually know or can find out. If a line is a guess, mark it as a guess and go check it.

Where to find the real answers

The best customer profiles come from evidence, not imagination. A few free places to look:

• Conversations you already have. Write down the questions people ask on the phone, at the counter and in messages. Repeated questions are your customer's worries in their own words.
• Your reviews. Read what customers praise and what they complain about. Note the exact phrases they use.
• Your Google Business Profile. Its performance section can show the search terms people used to find your business, along with calls, website clicks and direction requests [1]. Those search terms are a direct view of the words customers type.
• Short questions to recent customers. "What made you call us?" and "What almost stopped you?" take seconds to ask.

How to use the profile

Once the profile exists, use it as a check before you publish. Read your draft and ask three questions:

• Would this person recognize their situation in the first line?
• Does it use their words, or ours?
• Does it answer at least one of their worries?

If the answer to all three is no, the piece is probably written for you, not for them. Lesson 3 covers writing opening lines that speak to the reader's problem, and lesson 10 covers keeping the voice consistent once you know who you are talking to.

Common mistakes

Describing a demographic instead of a situation. "Women 35 to 54" tells you little about what to say. "A parent who needs the backyard ready for a party in two weeks" tells you a lot.

Inventing details. A profile full of guessed hobbies and made-up names feels thorough but can steer you wrong. Stick to what customers have actually shown or told you.

Trying to please every customer type in one post. If a dealership speaks to first-time buyers and fleet managers in the same post, neither feels spoken to. Split them.

Worked example

A car dealership posts mostly photos of inventory with captions like "Great deals this weekend!" The sales manager notices that many phone calls come from first-time buyers with the same questions: what credit they need, what a fair monthly payment looks like, and whether a used car will be reliable.

She writes a five-line profile for "first-time buyer under a set budget," using words she hears every day: "first car," "what can I afford," "is it a good deal." She checks the dealership's Business Profile performance and sees searches for used cars and financing terms.

The next post opens with a remark and ends with the question: "Your first car does not need to be a gamble. Every used car on our lot comes with a printed inspection report you can take home and read before you decide. What is the one thing you want to know before buying your first car?"

The post speaks to one person, in their words, about a real worry.

Checklist

• I have written a five-line profile for at least one customer type.
• Each line is based on what customers said or did, or is marked as a guess.
• I have collected the exact words customers use for their problem.
• I check each draft against the profile before publishing.
• I write each piece for one customer type at a time.
• I revisit the profile every few months.

Try it

Over the next week, keep a note on your phone. Every time a customer asks a question or describes a problem, write their words down exactly. At the end of the week, use those notes to fill in the five lines. Then rewrite one recent post so its first line speaks to that person's situation.

Tips

• Keep the profile to one page so you actually reread it.
• Copy customer phrases word for word, then use them in your posts.
• Ask "What almost stopped you from calling?" to uncover hidden worries.
• Give each customer type a short label, such as "first-time buyer," so you can plan posts around them.

Sources

1. "Understand your Business Profile performance & insights," Google Business Profile Help, https://support.google.com/business/answer/9918094