Are You Marketing to People Who Don't Exist?

Every Friday, take a moment to reflect on the bigger picture of your marketing strategy. Today's question might be uncomfortable, but it's essential: Are you creating marketing campaigns for real people with real problems, or are you targeting fictional personas that exist only in your imagination?

Why Doesn't My Marketing Resonate With Anyone?

• ‍Your marketing feels generic because you're targeting everyone and no one simultaneously. According to research from HubSpot, companies that use buyer personas see 73% higher conversions, yet 85% of businesses admit their buyer personas are based on assumptions rather than actual customer data.‍
• You're solving problems your customers don't actually have. Many businesses create products and services based on what they think customers need, rather than what customers actually struggle with daily. This disconnect shows up in marketing that talks about features instead of outcomes.‍
• Your messaging speaks to demographics, not psychographics. Knowing someone is a "35-year-old marketing manager" doesn't tell you what keeps them awake at night, what success looks like to them, or what obstacles prevent them from achieving their goals.‍
• You're using language your customers don't use. Industry jargon and insider terminology might make you sound expert, but if your customers don't think or speak that way, your message gets lost. According to Nielsen research, 92% of consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations, which use everyday language, not marketing speak.

How Do I Know If I'm Targeting the Wrong Audience?

• ‍Your content gets low engagement despite good reach. If people see your content but don't comment, share, or take action, it's often because the content doesn't address their real concerns or interests.‍
• Your sales conversations feel like uphill battles. When you're constantly explaining why someone needs your product or service, you might be talking to people who don't have the problem you solve.‍
• Your customer testimonials are vague or generic. Real customers describe specific problems you solved and specific outcomes they achieved. Generic testimonials like "great service" often indicate you're not clear on what value you actually provide.‍
• You're competing primarily on price. When customers can't see clear differentiation between you and competitors, price becomes the deciding factor. This usually means your positioning isn't addressing the specific needs that would make price secondary.‍
• Your ideal customer description could apply to thousands of businesses. If your target market is "small businesses that need marketing help," you're targeting everyone, which means you're targeting no one effectively.

What Happens When You Market Without Clear Customer Personas?

• ‍You waste budget on broad, unfocused campaigns. Without clear target personas, you end up creating generic campaigns that might reach many people but resonate with very few. According to Forrester research, companies with mature persona strategies see 2-5x higher ROI on their marketing campaigns.‍
• Your content calendar becomes a guessing game. Every piece of content requires starting from scratch because you don't have a clear picture of what your audience cares about, what questions they ask, or what challenges they face.‍
• You can't measure what matters. Without clear personas, you track vanity metrics like reach and impressions instead of meaningful metrics like qualified leads and customer lifetime value.‍
• Your sales and marketing teams operate with different assumptions. Marketing might target one type of customer while sales talks to a completely different audience, creating disconnection and inefficiency.‍
• You miss opportunities to create deeper relationships. Generic marketing creates transactional relationships. Persona-based marketing creates connections with people who feel understood and valued.

How Can I Define My Ideal Customer This Weekend?

Start with your best existing customers, not your ideal prospects. Look at the customers who pay on time, refer others, get great results from your service, and are genuinely enjoyable to work with. What do they have in common beyond demographics?

Conduct three 15-minute conversations with recent customers. Ask them:

• What was happening in your business before you found us?
• What other solutions did you consider?
• What made you choose us specifically?
• What results have you seen since working with us?

Map their decision-making process. Understanding how customers actually make buying decisions helps you create marketing that meets them where they are in their journey, rather than where you think they should be.

Identify their language and terminology. Pay attention to the exact words customers use to describe their problems, goals, and outcomes. These become the foundation for messaging that resonates.

Document their triggers and timing. What events or situations cause customers to start looking for solutions like yours? Understanding these triggers helps you create content and campaigns that reach people when they're most likely to buy.

The Reality Check: Moving from Assumptions to Insights

Real customer personas aren't creative writing exercises. They're strategic tools based on actual customer data, conversations, and behavior patterns. The difference between assumption-based personas and research-based personas shows up immediately in your marketing performance.

When you're marketing to real people with real problems, your content gets shared, your emails get opened, your calls get returned, and your sales conversations feel like helpful consultations rather than pitches.

This weekend, challenge yourself to move beyond assumptions. Talk to real customers. Ask real questions. Build marketing strategies on insights, not imagination.

The businesses that win in today's competitive landscape aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the flashiest campaigns. They're the ones that understand their customers deeply enough to create marketing that feels personally relevant to the right people.

Related Resources: Further Reading

Build Customer-Focused Marketing with:

• How Do I Create Customer Personas That Actually Drive Sales? Develop research-based personas that drive real marketing results.
• What's the Difference Between Content Creation and Content Strategy? Create content that speaks directly to your ideal customers' needs.
• Why Are My Competitors Getting More Attention Than My Business? Use competitor research to better understand your shared target market.

How Next Drop Design Can Help

At Next Drop Design, we base marketing strategies on real customer insights, not assumptions. Here's how we can support you:

• Client Persona Development: We'll create 1-2 detailed ideal client personas based on actual customer research, complete with decision triggers and journey mapping.
• Customer Research & Analysis: Our team conducts customer interviews and analyzes your existing customer data to identify patterns and opportunities.
• Message Development: We help you craft messaging that resonates with your real customers using their language and addressing their actual concerns.

With our expertise, you'll market to people who actually exist and actually need what you offer.

Next Steps

Ready to stop marketing to fictional people and start connecting with real customers? We provide comprehensive client persona development based on actual customer research and data analysis. Let's uncover who your best customers really are and how to find more people just like them.