Which Comes First: Your Product or Your Audience?
You’ve heard the phrase, “if you build it, they will come,” right?
The true meaning behind this phrase is if you put a lot of EFFORT and BELIEF into the project, it’s more likely to succeed.
And I don’t discount this sentiment because truly, mindset is so incredibly powerful.
However, let’s be real here: you shouldn’t necessarily lean on this principle 100%.
If you put all of your effort into your product line, you’re ignoring the fact that you need customers to make that product line a success.
Below, I’m breaking down exactly why building your audience first will lead to more success for your product. Let’s dive in.
Why You Should Build Your Audience First
Here’s the hard truth: the simple act of building a website and adding products to your shop will not automatically get people into your virtual door.
How will they know to go to your website?
Who are you even talking to at this point in the process?
Do you truly have the necessary budget for ad spend this early on?
This has NOTHING to do with you or the quality of your products.
Your ideal customers simply don’t know that your products are available.
People need to know how to find you.
And while I am by no means a marketing expert, I’ve worked with enough planner companies over the years to know that the ones who have the most successful launches are those who have an established, engaging, and trusting audience.
But how do you build an audience when you’re starting from zero?
Long answer short: content marketing.
Content marketing is the act of putting out content for others to consume — and it’s done so often because it WORKS. It’s a successful way of building that know, like, and trust factor with your audience, even when you’re starting from square one.
Personally, my favorite ways to do this are through platforms that are searchable, such as blogging and creating videos for YouTube.
Podcasts are another great way to build your audience, but don’t have quite the same searchability on their own; you would want to transcribe the podcast and publish that on your website so users can easily search and find this information.
And when you do create content on another platform, always be sure to embed it and link it back to your website.
The goal is to drive people to YOUR website, to start building that knowability factor and creating a recognizable brand they start to trust.
You want to make it super easy for your ideal customer to find you.
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social media platforms are great, as well; but ultimately should exist as a secondary tool to your searchable platforms with content that LIVES on your site.
Next, you need to figure out what to talk about; what kind of content are you creating for your ideal customer?
And the easiest way to answer this is to ask: what’s your product about?
What’s the core content of your planner?
What’s the problem you’re trying to solve for your customer?
Your planner should have a purpose.
And depending on the type of planner you’re designing, you’ll want to gear that content toward your target customer.
Think about information that will help your customer on a daily or regular basis. What will help them start to know, like, and trust you as a person and a brand so that they’ll be excited and ready to buy when you do officially launch your planner
And in turn, how can you match your personality with the personality of the brand and product?
Does it gear more toward educational content? Inspirational posts? Funny anecdotes?
Lean into your natural expertise, personality, and aesthetic to bring that to your content marketing and start creating a cohesively-designed brand experience your audience will love.
Once you have this defined and start building your audience, selling your uniquely designed DREAM planner will be easy and fun.
Have you been feeling inspired and ready to kick off the design process for your own custom planner?
I created a guide featuring 5 things your day planner MUST include . . . and it’s available now at the link below.