Step 1: What is your offer?

Take a piece of paper, or a blank document and write down what exactly you're offering. However, do it in such a way that you're explaining it to a seven year old. Don't be surprised if this is a difficult thing to do. It might have become so obvious and second-nature to you, that explaining it isn't as easy as you might think.

Step 2: What problem do you solve or what value do you add?

The answer to the first question can very possibly include the target audience. Nevertheless, understand who the primary audience is by retracing what the offer means for the end-customer. Are you solving a problem with a product? Or are you adding a certain value through your services?

Step 3: How will you bring your offer to the table?

In today's day and age the internet is the world's largest marketplace. There's hardly anybody you can't reach through this medium. But that doesn't mean you're doing it right. Ask yourself how you will actually bring your product or service to the table. Can you ship your product locally? Or maybe even globally? What's the maximum travel distance consultants can do in a day? If your product or solution desired abroad?

Step 4: Niche vs Mass?

In every business plan or mind map, there's a burning question to be asked; are you serving a nice, or the masses? Niche markets are inherently more challenging, but oftentimes more rewarding. What nice or market are you servicing? Are you selling products for dentists? Or a comfy pillow for anybody with a sofa?

Step 5: Can you make data driven decisions?

If your business is already up and running, it's a good start to look at your data. And I mean any data you have. Whether it's merely an address book, or in depth Google Analytics. Any data you can get your hands on will give you a good insight into who's actually interested in your offer.

If you're just starting out and don't have any data to work with, do some research. Look for similar organisations or competitors. Try to gain insight into their data.

• What customers are they referring to?
• Take a look at their social media. What type of person is interacting with them?

Lastly, make sure that you set up enough data streams to gather these insights in the future. Data driven decisions are the right way to go, if you're looking for efficient and cost-effective business solutions.

Step 6: Who is the decision maker and who is the benefactor?

The person that signs a deal, or makes a purchase might not always be the one that actually wants it. Ethical marketing comes into play here. Several multinationals have this down to a science. An easy example is how toy stores don't make ads for the adults that ultimately buy the toys, but instead focus on making every child want it. By influencing a so-called 'mobilizer' they create advocates that convince the decision maker. Pay close attention to these dynamics to make sure your target audience is the right one.

Step 7: Have you considered a DISC model?

A core marketing technique is applying something like the DISC model. This model gives you an indication of how your prospect needs to be approached. It might seem difficult at first, but there is plenty of research that can guide you in the right direction. E.g. CEO's are usually a red type. Men in IT tend to lean towards blue. And women tend to lean towards yellow. Understanding this concept will help you in our final step.

Step 8: Time to create a buyer persona concept

We know a few things by now; we know what it is you're selling. We also know what value it adds or why people would want it. We know how you'll sell it. We know what market you'll be focused on. And, best case, we're able to back that up with data.

The next looming element into this path is to create a so-called buyer persona. Sketch a visual picture of your average customer. If you're focussing on b2b solutions, don't hesitate to sketch the picture of the actual decision maker that will sign off on the deal.

Use this tool here to generate several for you focus on.

Step 9: Verify the buyer persona

The next step is easy. When you have an existing customer base, match your buyer persona's to them. Why didn't we do this sooner? Because doing this step now, will either verify your findings, or show you that you don't fully understand the previous steps. Either way, you have to adjust where necessary. Don't be surprised if the persona you have is far cry from the actual buyers. If anything that only highlights the massive potential you have for improvement.

Step 10: Do this exercise regularly every 2 to 3 years

Audience changes all the time. Unless you have a very specific niche, your audience won't stay the same over the course of a decade. Political motivations, industry standards, AI, anything and anybody could alter what your target audience looks like. Incorporate this exercise in your company and even teach it so some of your middle-management.

Photo by Melanie Deziel on Unsplash