Avoid the common cold email mistake of sending emails to the wrong people! Targeting your ideal buyer will save you time, money and increase your response and conversion rates. The answer is defining your Ideal Customer Profile.
Keep reading to uncover:
- What an ICP is, and what it is not.
- Why identifying your ICP is critical pre-work to any email campaign.
- How to identify your ICP.
Setting the Foundation for Finding Your ICP
Identifying your ICP is all about finding your Mr. or Ms. Right Now (not just Mr. or Ms. Right). These are the people who you could you actually serve with your product or service today who also have a pressing need to have it resolved soon.Why People Buy
There are four reasons people buy products in B2B environments:- Make Money: A company will buy your product or service if you can demonstrate that it will either directly or indirectly help them make more money. Today, the company or business unit wants, needs or is obligated to continue to drive revenue for the company. To do so, they need to find products, services or new markets that help them attract, retain or upsell more customers.
- Example : An e-commerce company wants to increase revenue. A new technology solution automatically recommends products frequently bought together based on individuals previous purchase behavior. By bundling products together through a recommendation engine, cart sizes increase and in turn so does revenue.
- Save Time/Money: A company will buy your product or service if you can demonstrate that it will help them save time and/or money. In these situations, customers are typically stuck performing job functions in time consuming and inefficient ways. Keep in mind that the single biggest cost for any company is labor.
- Example: A freight trucking firm wants to reduce maintenance costs across a 100-truck fleet. A new technology company identifies the critical part failures before they happen which, in turn, reduces the incidence rate of costly part failures, as well as the amount of time per truck the maintenance team has to spend replacing parts.
- Gain/Defend a Competitive Advantage: A company will buy your product or service if you can demonstrate that you can help them continue revenue and market share growth by establishing or defending a competitive advantage. Right now, these customers either don’t have a way or are looking for the next way to set themselves apart from other companies in their industry.
- Example: A leading baby monitor company needs to create market differentiation. A new technology enables newborn heart and respiration rate monitoring without the need to attach dangerous wires to the baby. Improved data and safety capabilities creates market differentiation.
- Improve Compliance / Minimize Risk: A company will buy your product or service if you can demonstrate that you can help them comply with laws, rules or regulations.
- Example: A sales organization that runs outbound customer acquisition campaigns needs to keep their lead engine running without breaking new privacy regulations or face a fine. A new technology enables outbound customer acquisition campaigns that fit within the privacy regulation framework and provides reporting documentation to prove compliance.