The IT Marketing Crash Course summary

What exactly does your business do? A seemingly simple question – but you’d be surprised how many new entrepreneurs can’t answer it clearly.

For instance, when the author posed this question to an entrepreneur at a conference, the response was extremely vague: web design, managed services, network management and software development. He might as well have said that his company would do anything for a buck.

Being vague doesn’t work, because convincing customers means being crystal clear about what you offer. Prospective customers want specialists, not generalists. For instance, say you want to add a deck to your house. Would you rather hire a general contractor or a company that specializes in building decks?

The obvious choice is the specialist because specialists have a reputation for expertise. And the same thing holds for building your IT business: pick a specialty and communicate it clearly.

But it’s also important to know who, specifically, buys your products. That’s because knowing your buyer persona – that is, your ideal customer – provides a detailed picture of who you’re trying to reach.

And the research you do to determine this should give you a clear understanding of what motivates your buyers. Because to address their wants and needs you’ll first need to know what those wants and needs are.

For example, Jeff LoSapio of ThreatSim, a company that aids businesses in countering phishing attacks, found that, within large organizations, the buyer persona was the employee responsible for threat assessment. Once LoSapio knew which people to target, he could get even more specific by taking into account the size of the organization, as well as its priorities and challenges, and then tailoring the marketing message accordingly.

And finally, it’s also key to know where your ideal customers hang out and what they read. This will put you a step ahead and dictate which networking events you should attend.