In some cases, knowing your target customer isn’t necessary. For example, if you resell items on eBay, you don’t have a specific niche. Let’s say you sell boots, jackets, or hats. Of course, if competition is high, it’s important to appear on the first pages of search. You might not even have your own store; you just list items. Here, price is the main thing.
As soon as you start creating a niche for your product, you immediately face the problem: you need to know your target customer. Why is this so important? Well, let’s take the same jackets. Jackets can be different. Some jackets might be for little girls in pink, and others, say, short leather jackets for motorcyclists.
Everything should be different
Absolutely everything — the background of photos, the store, the product description, and even the language you use to describe your product or the process of manufacturing it for your Etsy store — will differ from one to another… Do you sell leather jackets or pink jackets for little girls? It will be a completely different background, culture, and… Everything will be different.
Real-life example: baby rattles
So, what can happen to people who don’t know their target audience? Well, very recently, I had an example. A woman approached me. She was selling small handmade baby rattles for newborns. Very beautiful, handmade, she had been listing them on Etsy for a long time, but they weren’t selling.
Then she started doing research and joined groups for young mothers of little children. She discovered a surprising thing — no one was buying her rattles because they’re just too small. Every mother worries that if a toy is on a strap, it might break, and the child could swallow it. But, in short, this is something mothers in America worry about.
If you don’t know your target audience, if you don’t communicate with them in groups, and if you haven’t tested your product among this target audience, you have no idea. Maybe these toys sell well in China, or Ukraine, but it’s practically impossible to sell them in America. Mothers simply won’t buy them. So, that’s one simple example.
Example with jackets: the importance of details
Or, again, with jackets. If you’re selling jackets to bikers who ride motorcycles, perhaps it’s better to embroider a sports team on the jacket, maybe a team that won the Super Bowl last year, I guess, a team that’s popular.
And if you’re selling a jacket for a little girl, you might need to find out which cartoons or unicorns are popular this year and do embroidery. That will be custom, and such a jacket will be bought more easily.
What’s important to know about the target audience
It’s important to know not just where your buyer lives and how old they are, as is usually done on social media platforms like Facebook, where we can also target ads based on location, age, gender. You need to know:
- What interests the person
- What they are passionate about
- How much they earn
Basically, as much as possible.
Where to find information about the target audience
If you’re going somewhere, social media is, by the way, the best place to learn more about your target customer. Because earlier, it was very difficult to do this; companies specialized in marketing were hired. Now, anyone can do it simply by searching on Google or going to Facebook, right?
Important: Don’t look for competitors
For example, if you’re making leather wallets, don’t join groups for leather wallets because you’ll find competitors who also sell leather wallets. Instead, find groups where people interested in buying leather wallets hang out. Where do these people hang out on social media, on Facebook? What pictures do they look at on Pinterest? What are they interested in?
The pain points of the target audience
You need to understand what the real pain of your target customer is. What does “pain points of the target audience” mean? It means the true reason they’re looking for a certain product and want to buy it.
For example, if a man is looking for soft slippers, it doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to buy slippers. His real pain might be that his wife’s birthday is next week. He needs to buy the slippers quickly, but what’s most important isn’t the slippers themselves but a good gift — something beautiful, that she’ll like, and that will arrive on time, for instance.
So, when people buy your products, why are delivery terms, shipping, important? Why does the background you shoot your items in matter? Because all this should help satisfy or reduce the pain points of your target audience.
Example with home decor
If, for example, you sell lamps, pictures, or chandeliers — who are your target customers? People interested in home decor, right? So, on Pinterest and other platforms, you will look for those specific people.
Think about what interior style your lamp, picture, or chandelier would suit — do you understand? For example, my pictures wouldn’t suit a modern style because I love more classic designs. But there are people who prefer modern style. A picture suitable for a modern home is completely different from one suited for a classic home, and so on, you know?
If you can see your picture, chandelier, or lamp in the environment the person doing a home remodel dreams of — whether modern, classic, or some other style — if they see their own room, their ideal space, with your product in it, they will buy it. Because they want to create a space like that, a cozy room.
Example with a blanket
If a woman is looking for a blanket, it doesn’t just mean she’s looking for a blanket. Now it’s cold outside, it’s ugly, everything looks bare and damp, she wants to sit in her chair, read a book or do something relaxing — play a game, perhaps, or just unwind in her favorite chair with a cup of coffee. That’s what she wants.
So, when we show products in ads, if we can evoke a feeling in the buyer that they need this product right now, that they want to be sitting in that chair, that they want their picture hanging on that wall — and so on — if we can create this feeling in them, they will buy it. That’s why it’s essential to understand the pain points of your target audience.
Conclusion
When you learn to understand your target customer — when you start feeling and understanding their interests, passions, income, and lifestyle — then you will be able to effectively create a brand, store, background, and language to communicate with them.
Why can even a good product not sell without understanding the target audience?
Because different people buy the same items for completely different reasons. What appeals to one group might not resonate with another. If you don’t consider who your actual customer is, your store, photos, texts, and even product details can work against you.
How does knowing your target customer influence the store’s appearance and product presentation?
It changes everything: the background of photos, description style, language, accents, and even small product details. The same product can look and sell very differently depending on who it’s meant for and in what context the person wants to see it.
Where to truly find information about your target audience, not your competitors?
In places where people live their lives: social networks, thematic communities, Pinterest, comments, and discussions. It’s important to look not at competitors’ sellers, but at the interests, fears, desires, and “pain” points of potential buyers.
Of course, all this won’t happen overnight. It’s one of the main reasons why it takes so long — up to several years — to grow an Etsy store. Because initially, people start listing their products, and as they learn more, make sales, they gradually begin interacting with their customers, evolving their store’s brand.
Wishing you great sales! That’s all for today, see you next time!
