SEO constantly changes up year by year and even month by month. In fact, you could say the same about marketing in general. For example, new innovations change the platforms that we look for information on. As our general tastes evolve, concepts that were wildly successful become less appealing and more irritating. It’s a massive pain to try and navigate this (which is why people pay plenty of money to consultants and company to do this for them). However, there are some basic principles that don’t shift, even as the goal posts move. A good example of this is targeting customers.
Why is it so important to target customers? Well, for one, not everyone needs the same thing. Are you going to sell stair lifts to college students? This is a bit of an extreme example, but it is also one of many. What the point is is that everyone has different tastes, and you’re better off being the best option for some people rather than being a mediocre option for all people.
One thing that people do to handle this problem is creating a buyer personal or buyer concept. Think of this as a list of characteristics for your ideal customer, including who they are, what they buy, and why they buy it. This helps find traits and ideas that you can latch on to differentiate yourself from other companies in your niche. How does this play out? For example, if you are a Ford dealer in Costa Mesa, you may want to take a look at the tastes and financial status of the community. It may guide exactly what you choose to focus on in your advertising.
For example, if your customers need a little bit of financial support, your ads may focus more on showing cars that are affordable but also reliable. For example, you may sell your Ford Edge in Costa Mesa with a payment plan that doesn’t require a lot of money down, making it more accessible financially. You may also promote the fact that it won’t require a lot of expensive repairs, especially if multiple people make use of the car.
Now, how do you get the material to build your buyer personas and lay the path for your consumer targeting? Hopefully, you already have a bit of knowledge, but in some cases, you can extract info from your current customer base. Online surveys and other options are a good place to start. You can also look at demographics and try and base your move off of their tastes.In time, you want to check your metrics and make sure you are actually appealing to the audience you want.



