In any kind of marketing it’s essential to know who your real customers are, but it’s sometimes a little trickier than it might seem.
As I shared earlier this year, the people that we build websites for aren’t the ones that we’re actually building them for. When we build a site for a client, we’re building a site that works best for their clients. This is why the common “make my logo bigger” conversation usually gets shut down quickly, because the focus needs to be on how that benefits the end user (and it usually doesn’t).
Of course, there are times when it can go a level deeper than that. In his book “Good Company“, Arthur Blank shares this idea:
“What Gary pointed out was that foundations often make the mistake of thinking that their “customers” are the nonprofits to which they give grants. In fact, he explained, a foundation’s customers are the individuals served by those grantee nonprofits.”
For example, if a foundation were to hire us to help with a site, the levels get interesting:
- GreenMellen building the site.
- For the foundation.
- For their non-profits.
- For the individuals being served by those non-profits.
When we’re building the site, we need to think about which entities will be using various parts of it. Some areas may be for donors to the foundation, some might be for non-profits to learn more and apply for grants, and some might be the individuals at the end of the chain.
It can vary a lot, but it’s crucial to think though in every case. Keeping that in mind is yet another example of how input such as “make it darker” is likely not at all related to the goals that have been planned for each step of the journey.
Always remember who your real end user is, focus on them, and things will have a way of turning out much better.
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