No - everyone is not your customer.

Knowing whom your business is selling to is crucial when figuring out your brand identity. So, who are you trying to reach? And, more importantly, how are you going to get them? What kind of value are you going to provide them? While you might personally know a handful (or even a tasting roomful) of your customers, have you ever sat down and tried to visualize what's happening inside their heads? It's time because we've got the tools you need to understand your consumers' pain points, motivations, goals, and challenges. With these insights, you'll get more of your products and services into their hands.?

Let's do this!

I hope you have some empathy.?

Get ready to gain valuable insights about your customers! Have you ever heard of an empathy map? It's a team exercise that brings customer behaviours, mindsets, and expectations to life. By creating an empathy map, you'll easily see what your customers really want about your brand or experience. It will leave you with a visual diagram that helps you instantly synthesize a ton of data. Sharing the map with your team will create a common understanding of your customers' wants and needs and help eliminate personal biases.?

Empathy maps are split into four distinct quadrants, each one capturing a unique moment and reaction your customers may experience during their journey.?

• Says. The "Says" quadrant references phrases consumers might say about their experiences.?

Example: “I’d purchase more wine online, but I don’t know what I like?”

• Thinks. The "Thinks" quadrant conveys typical thoughts consumers have when going through an experience.?

Example: “I don’t want to sign up for a wine club that includes one wine I don’t like”?

• Does. The "Does" quadrant surveys what consumers do and how they behave.?

Example: “Compares wine prices on different winery websites”

• Feels. The "Feels" quadrant is about the consumer's emotional state, which you often determine after completing the "Thinks" and "Does" quadrants.?

Example: “I feel like I don’t have enough wine knowledge to make the right selection."

Meet your customer.

Buyer Personas build on the insights gathered from the Empathy Map to create a vivid picture of your perfect customer. By investing your energy into crafting these profiles, you can tailor your marketing messages and campaigns to truly connect with your audience. These profiles typically feature fictional names, such as Wine Collector William or Millennial Mary, but are based on real qualitative data that captures the essence of your customers. Answer these questions and create a persona that will bring your marketing to life!

• Demographics – What is their age, gender, income & education levels?
• Psychographics – What are their attitudes, beliefs and personality like?
• Why they bought your product – What was the primary driver?
• Where they found your product – Was it in a retail store, online, or in the tasting room?
• How your product is used – What attributes are important to them?
• What solutions it provides – How does your product enhance their life??
• How often and how much of it do they buy - a case every quarter or two bottles a month?
• Objections – why would they consider not buying it?
• Communication preferences – Do they prefer email, text or phone calls?
• Social media preferences -Where do they spend their time online?

After gathering this information, it creates a vivid image of your ideal customer, allowing you to communicate with them personally and engagingly about their desires and lifestyle needs. When customers feel like marketing messages connect with their behaviours, personalities, aspirations, and concerns, they're much more likely to purchase. So, let's dive deep and get to know your buyer! Put in a conscious effort to empathize with their life. Once you know their pain points and where you can make a difference, identifying effective marketing strategies becomes much less complicated.?

P.S. Grab our 7-step process to grow your alcohol brand from ferment to fame (for both beginning and established brands). Get your copy here:?bit.ly/fermenttofame