I don't know who my customers are.
A one-minute answer, a plain-English fix, and one thing you can do today — pick how you'd like to take it in below.
Your customers are the people who already give you money — start there. Look at your last ten sales. Who are they, where do they live, what did they buy, and why? That's your customer. Not a made-up "target market."
Marketers love to over-complicate this with personas and demographics. But the fastest way to grow is to find more of the customers you already have — not chase strangers. If you know your ten best customers by name, you can find their friends.
A café owner in Ponsonby was ready to spend $2,000 on Instagram ads for "brunch enthusiasts aged 25 to 40." I asked her to name her ten best regulars. She could — Sarah the yoga teacher, Marcus the dad with the twins, Kiri who works from the corner table on Tuesdays. Not one of them matched her "target market." Her customers were locals within walking distance who worked from home. We spent $200 on a neighbourhood postcard instead. Filled the café for three weekends.
List your last 10 real customers
By name, if you can. What did they order? What day did they come in? What did they mention in passing? This is your data — no survey needed.
Look for the pattern
Do they mostly live locally? Are they mostly parents? Working from home? Small business owners themselves? One thing usually links them — spot that thing.
Ask them how they found you
Text three of them. "Do you mind me asking — how did you first hear about us?" The answers will surprise you. Some marketing you thought worked doesn't. Some you never noticed does.
Ask what almost stopped them
"What nearly made you not buy?" is a magic question. Their answer is exactly what's costing you every other lost customer this month.
Text three real customers with one question.
"Hi — quick one: do you mind me asking how you first heard about us? Just trying to understand what's actually working. Thank you!" Send it to three people whose numbers you have. Their honest answers will reshape everything.
- Your best customers already exist — study them.
- Don't invent target markets — look at your actual sales.
- Ask three questions: who, where, why.
- Do more of what works. Stop doing what doesn't.
Now that you know who your customers are — do you actually need to be on social media to reach them? That's Topic 06.
Topic 06 — Do I really need social media?