19 Aug Does Your Website Content Speak to Your Target Markets?
During a client call today, the web designer and I realized something: Our mutual client’s website content is not speaking to all their target markets. This is something that happens very often to companies of all shapes and sizes. You grow quickly – and you forget to update your messaging.
This particular client of mine is a new nonprofit that is about to launch a pilot program. Once the pilot launches, we need to expand the web content to talk to the pilot participants. Right now, we only talk to the high-level decision-makers.
“So what?” you might think. “Is it really that important?” Yes, it really is that important or I wouldn’t be writing about it. When a potential client lands on your website, you want them to immediately understand that you offer the products or services they need to reach their business goals.
And listen, it’s easy to forget to update your website content. You’re busy serving your clients! So let’s take a pause, review your content and discuss how to update it so all of your target markets recognize themselves when they’re on your website.
How to do a quick website content audit
Don’t freak out because you see the word “audit”! I’m not the IRS. You’re not going to get in trouble or owe anyone money. We just want to systematically review your website content and find the missing pieces.
And that starts with a review of who your target markets are and what they care about.
Who are your target markets?
List each group of clients you serve. For me, that’s small business owners, marketing departments in larger companies and marketing agencies.
(As I write this, I realize that I don’t talk to agencies on my website! Guess who is going through this exercise with you? Yup – me.)
As you write your list, you might realize that yes, you serve this one market, but they’re not particularly lucrative, or they represent a really tiny portion of your revenue, or you just don’t like working with them. This is a great time to reassess whether or not to actively pursue new work with that target market.
For my two cents, the answer is no. Life is too short to devote time and energy to anything in life you don’t enjoy.
What do your target markets care about?
In other words, we want to talk about their challenges. Addressing those challenges helps create a connection. “I know what you’re up against, and I can help. Here’s how.”
Go back to each group of clients and list their biggest challenges. As you jot down your notes, make sure your language speaks directly to your clients. “You struggle with this, and you don’t enjoy doing that.”
Review your website
Pull up your website in a browser. You want to go through each page and look for the following:
Do you address your target markets by name?
Right on the home page, you want to say, “We work with X, Y and Z.”
For you, that might be something broad like, “We work with residential and commercial property owners in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Or it might be something more niche, like, “We help biotech entrepreneurs who are working on vaccine delivery systems.”
Do you address their concerns?
We just listed each target market’s biggest challenges. Do you address their challenges on the website?
And if you do, is it immediately after stating that you work with them?
And is it easy for them to find this information?
Don’t bury this!
It must be crystal clear, especially on the home page, who you work with and what challenges you solve for them. Don’t make potential clients search for this information because they won’t. They’ll bounce to your competitor’s website.
Two ways to ensure your website content speaks to your target markets
Depending on your company, you can take one of two approaches:
Create separate web pages for each target market
Best for: Companies that offer specific services to different target markets.
The list of companies this is applicable to is long and diverse.
I’ve written website content for a CFO-for-hire who worked with both small business and government agencies; a water delivery company that works with residential and commercial customers; and a tech company with seven target markets. In each case, the different target markets get their own website page (or section, depending on how complex the offerings are).
If this is your situation, get rid of the Services tab in your top navigation and replace it with customer categories (Small Business | Government Agencies or Residential | Commercial). Your target markets will self-select their appropriate page.
Now, there might be some overlap in the services you offer. That’s fine. Just tweak the language so it speaks to the right target market.
Update service/product pages to address your target markets
Best for: Companies that offer the same services to all target markets.
My company falls under this approach. All my clients, no matter how large or small, need the same copywriting services. This would also be true for a CPA, small business attorney, day spa and auto repair shop.
Just like on the home page, mention who you serve in the introduction at the top of the page. This is important, because a link in a blog post or a Google search might send people to an interior service page, thus bypassing the home page.
You can also weave in testimonials and short case studies from your different target markets. This adds extra credibility and helps potential clients picture how you can also help them.
Speaking of help, you might have finished this exercise and realized that your website content definitely needs to be updated but the idea of doing it yourself … well, you’d rather get a root canal. That’s what we’re here for. Give us a shout, and we’ll set up a time to chat.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels
No Comments