I remember having an Instagram with over 600 followers who were following me for natural hair content and product recommendations. So when I started posting about my fashion business and promoting my custom-made ready-to-wear prom gowns, I got crickets!!!

Okay, I maybe got 1 inquiry but that was it and they never came back because I didn't know how to speak to them to "close the deal" and I think it was obvious to this potential customer.

It was so disheartening every day talking about my prom gowns and fashion design, getting a few likes here and there only to have no one buy except my friends and family.

Today, I want to offer you some advice to help you get clear on your target audience so you can speak directly to them, create a deeper connection, and tailor your messaging to turn followers into loyal community members and consistent sales.

Create A Customer Avatar

What is a Customer Avatar?

A customer avatar (or buyer persona) is a detailed description of your ideal customer. Think of it as a fictional character that represents your perfect client. Essentially, you're dreaming up your ideal customer and then think of market research as a way to fill in the gaps you're unaware of about your Ideal customer or "ICA," to build your dream customer.

By getting to know your ideal customer, you can better tailor your content to resonate with them, leading to better engagement and sales.

Use Their Language

The simplest way I found my messaging was to listen to my ideal audience. I look at the reviews of my competitors, their comment sections on social media, and even conversations my ideal audience was having in Facebook groups, forums, and blogs.

I took notes on the specific words and phrases they used and put these in a Google doc so when I go to create content, I don't have to make words up. My audience uses these words, and now I use them more in my content to speak directly to them.

Side note: If you've ever said to yourself while scrolling through someone's content on social media, "WOW, this is exactly what I'm struggling with," or "This is exactly how I feel, it's like you're in my head." Chances are they've done their research to know your pain points, struggles, and desires. They learned what to say in their content to get you to stop scrolling, to engage, and to buy. It wasn't a coincidence; it's literally strategy! And now you know!

Their Pain Points & Desires

What Are Pain Points?
Pain points and desires are specific problems your customers face or desires they have that your product or service can solve or provide.

For example, let's say you're a Sticker Business; your customers may struggle with finding high-quality, durable stickers that don’t fade or peel.

Let's say you're a service-based business like a Spa; your clients might be stressed and looking for a relaxing escape or have skin issues they want to treat.

You can pinpoint these problems and desires in a few ways:

- Ask your customers directly through surveys, email, or polls on social media.
- Look at feedback and reviews to see what problems/desires they mention most often.
- Have genuine conversations with them in comment sections, groups, or forums.
- Ask them genuine questions about their struggles and get specific!

For example:
- "Why do you feel you are struggling with _____?"
- "What specifically about _____ do you struggle with?"
- "What would it feel like to have/achieve _____?"

Side note: If someone comments on your social media post something like, "I love your products, services, or content," you can say thank you, of course, but if you want to take it a step further, ask them what they loved about it. This allows them to get super specific with the feedback so you can do more of what they love or even improve on things they didn't love so much! It's a great technique for market research.

Tell Stories

Remember, authenticity is key. Share real stories, personal experiences, customer success stories, or even the journey of your business.

Stories create emotional connections and make your brand memorable. They help people see themselves using your product or service and can make content creation a heck of a lot easier!

For example, my fashion business went belly up, and when I was on the verge of my nervous breakdown, or should I say breakthrough, I discovered personal development and mindset mentors who spoke about personal branding, and from there, my life was changed!

My whole view on entrepreneurship shifted from just building a business to building my personal brand and having a more fun and fulfilling time in business.

This is just one story I share, but I have 3 to 4 stories I consistently share across all platforms.

I recommend starting with 1-2 stories you'd like to share consistently in your content, website, newsletters, or to promote your products and services.

Consistent Messaging

Messaging is how you communicate your brand’s value and personality through words, visuals, and actions. It includes your brand voice, catchphrases, and the overall tone of how you communicate with your audience.

Consistency builds trust. When your message is consistent, people know what to expect from you, which builds reliability and loyalty.

- Develop a clear brand voice and tone.
- Use the same wording, phrases, and themes across all platforms (website, social media, emails, etc.).

Think about what you want to say to your audience, then test and refine your messaging based on feedback from your audience and how your content is performing.

For example: If I realize that it's been a while and no one is engaging with my content—they're not liking, following, subscribing, sharing, clicking on my websites, no sales, etc.—chances are there's a messaging issue.

I would look over my content to see where I can strengthen my messaging across my platforms and website to all sound like it's coming from the same brand.

This doesn't mean copying and pasting the same content but rather making sure the tone and personality feel the same from, say, Instagram to YouTube.

While it's not wrong to get inspiration from people, and by all means, if you are stuck, it can help to get the juices flowing again. However, relying on hooks and content ideas from random social media gurus could be the reason you're not seeing the level of success you truly desire to see from your business.

If you want to build a more memorable meaningful brand and thriving online business, your messaging needs to be genuine. In other words, if it's not genuinely words you would say or use, this could be why your audience hasn't found you yet or why they aren't genuinely engaging with your content on a deeper level.

They need to see, hear, and feel you! Authenticity is key!

Key Takeaways

• Create a Customer Avatar: Understand your ideal customer to tailor your content effectively.
• Use Their Language: Speak in the words and phrases your audience uses.
• Identify Pain Points & Desires: Know their struggles and what they want to achieve.
• Tell Stories: Share authentic stories to create emotional connections.
• Consistent Messaging: Keep your brand voice and tone consistent across all platforms.

💌 If you have any questions, I'm just a comment away. 🫶🏾