Do you know who you are selling your handcrafted products to?

Do you know who you are selling your handcrafted products to may seem like an obvious question. However, too many makers look to create and market their creations without knowing exactly who they are going to sell them to. This approach only serves to make your life difficult, because if you don’t know who your customers are, how can you craft the written, visual and audio messages needed to get your product in front of them?

The golden rule of business is to serve your customers. This means knowing who they are and what they expect and want from you. Knowing your customer goes beyond generalisations and into the specific details of their life such as age, gender, income, location and more. Not knowing your customer makes it much harder to plan your brand visibility strategy. For example, a basket weaver saying they weave baskets for homemakers doesn’t tell you a whole lot whereas a basket weaver who weaves storage baskets using natural organically dyed grasses for sustainably-conscious homeowners is telling you a whole lot more.

Here are several ways to help you get to know your customer: 

Look at your analytics

If you have an online presence, analytics are your friend. The most common is Google Analytics which tells you a whole lot of valuable information about the people who are engaging with your content.

Create customer profiles

A fun way to put yourself into the shoes of your ideal customer is by building up a profile of where they shop, eat, play, their age, status and so forth. Use the information you get from your analytics. Doing this exercise will bring your customers to life in your mind. Customer profiles act as a reference when visualising who is buying your work.

Talk with existing customers

If you have existing customers, reach out to them to get their opinions of your work. Nothing beats talking to your customers face-to-face. This way you can observe reactions such as facial expressions and how they interact with your product. Look for the common characteristics between them, and use the information to make your customer profiles more accurate. You can compare the real facts with the profiles you created to see how accurate your assumptions have been. This will help you see whether you are targeting the right audiences and in the right places.

Knowing your customer and their needs is an important part of your marketing and branding strategies. The information will help you create the types of messages that will attract and draw the right customers to your business. Customers who would be more inclined to buy from you. This is something we discuss further in 6 Common Reasons Why People Are Not Buying Your Creations And How To Fix The Problems.

– The Wonderfully Well Made Team

[Image credits: The image shown belongs to Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]