Your best prospects who have the strongest likelihood of converting to paying customers are hiding.
It’s not that they’re shy.
It’s not that they don’t want to buy from you.
It’s not that they don’t want to be found.
In fact, they do want to be found – and they’re hiding in plain sight.
So where exactly are they hiding and how do you find them?
The answer to both pieces of the puzzle are easy.
FIRST – They’re hiding on your list
This makes them really easy to find. You see, while you may think of your list as one big collection of subscribers and customers, it’s really much more than that. Every list is made up of many mini-segments. For example, there are:
- Customers who bought something within the past 3 months
- Customers who bought something within the past 6 months
- Customers who bought something within the past year
- Customers who have bought multiple times from you
- Customers who have refunded frequently
- Customers who have never refunded
- Customers who have referred others to you
- And so on
Then there are your prospects. These are folks who haven’t bought anything. But again, there are really many mini-segments of prospects. Here are some to consider:
- Prospects who responded to an offer for a specific bait piece
- Prospects who joined your list to find out about a product or service, but didn’t buy
- Prospects who came from organic search
- Prospects who came from paid ads
- Prospects who came from social media
- Prospects who came from many other sources
- Prospects who have been on your list for one year or less
- Prospects who have been on your list for 1 to 3 years
- Prospects who have been on your list for 5 years or more
- And so on
So the key to finding your best prospects is to clearly define the various mini-segments that make up your list. But here’s the critical piece. When looking for new prospects, the only mini-segments of your list to pay attention to are your CUSTOMER segments.
That’s because it makes no sense to seek out more prospects who haven’t bought anything. Your real goal is to find the most productive customer segments on your list – real buyers – and then target other people who are exactly like them.
That’s how you find where your best prospects are hiding on your list. And all it takes is a bit of research.
By examining the traits of your best customers, you’ll be able to identify characteristics you can use to target thousands of other people just like them.
Here’s an example to help you get started. In examining your mini-segments of customers, you may find that 60% or more of them have purchased a certain product.
Then, by digging a bit deeper, you may further discover that the majority of these customers live in a specific geographic area. Or they may be primarily male, aged 21 to 35. Or primarily female, aged 25 to 45.
Whatever the common characteristics are, these people are your absolute best customers to profile for finding new prospects. All you have to do now is use the information you’ve discovered to target more of your ideal prospects.
SECOND – How to find more prospects with the same characteristics as your best customers
Sorry to break the news to you, but in most cases, Facebook, Google, SEO and other pliable media aren’t going to work – at least not for long.
The reason I refer to these media sources as pliable is because they are constantly changing the rules on you. And often, they don’t tell you when the rules change.
That’s why your Facebook ad may work today and drop like a lead balloon 3 days from now.
That’s why your first page ranking on Google is great today, only to evaporate a couple weeks from now.
That’s why any pliable form of media – where the rules are constantly changing – is unreliable as a long term source of qualified prospects.
So where the heck do you turn to find a consistently reliable source of prospects who mirror the characteristics of your best customers? The answer is this simple:
Go where they already gather
At the same time, you have to make sure that those gathering places are static rather than pliable. In other words, that they will be around next week, next month, next year – and for many years to come.
So while the rules for advertising on Facebook change without warning, Facebook groups remain the same. So getting the owner of a popular group where your ideal prospects gather to promote you to their members is an excellent way to attract new prospects.
Advertising in the ezines that you know your ideal prospects subscribe to is another excellent method. So is advertising in the trade journals your ideal prospects read, direct mail to highly targeted lists and any other form of marketing that directly connects you with your ideal prospects.
Wrap up
So while your best prospects are hiding, it isn’t because they don’t want to be found. All you have to do is follow the simple guidelines I’ve just given you and you’ll be able to find thousands of them at will.
Am I nuts? Am I right on target?
Feel free to let me know – or share your own experience with this topic – by leaving your comment below.