Why is it important to understand your audience’s pain points?

You have heard the term pinpoint, but have you ever heard of a pain point? To run a successful small business, you must understand your audience’s pain points, to deliver a better product or result to your customers and clientele. This blog post will dive into the definition and steps to take to identify and understand your audience’s pain points. We also will be covering the next steps to help you find a solution to your problem.

What is a Pain Point?

At Ruth Sherill Marketing Services we work to help business owners turn their knowledge into shareable content. It is important for business owners to know their audience’s pain points so they can create content to attract the proper audience online. For us to help you understand your customer’s pain point, you must first understand what a pain point is. A pain point can be broken into two things. Instead, it can be a general reason why a customer or client may hesitate to shop or proceed with your business. Or it can be a problem a customer has experienced with you and your business in the past. Although these two pain points are different, you can take the same approach for both.

Within your small business, pain points can vary from finances, customer support, productivity, etc. But, most times, pain points can be in your control, like shipping cost, product cost, and lack of discounts. As a small business owner, your goal is to listen to your target audience. Find the pain point in your business, and do your best to solve it.

Pain Point’s Benefits

Instead of seeing it as a bad thing and a reflection of you and your work, I think you should see it as a growing opportunity. It’s a way to learn more about your audience and yourself as a business owner. By learning and understanding your audience’s pain point, you can relieve the pain. This will make them more likely to buy and support.

How to Identify a Pain Point

Identifying a pain point can be tricky, especially if you have no direct complaints. It is still your job to find what your pain points might be to your target audience.

1. Ask them Question

You need to ask your clients questions whether you create forms with questions online or create an interactive post for customers. Ask them what they would like for you to change, the drawbacks to shopping or doing business with you, etc. The more direct your questions are, the better off you are in getting the answer you need. Start small by using a tactic like IG stories and doing polls. Then work your way into having a question form on your website whenever someone purchases from you. The key is to show the audience that you want their POV.

2. Listen to them

Now, it’s wise to listen to your audience when you get feedback. Although it is your business, your business is nothing without the clientele or customers. If there is something, someone dislikes about your product or service, listen to what they have to say. Take it in, and find out how you can better accommodate them and other customers in the future.

3. Forums

Forums or message boards are another great way to identify pain points. They are online discussions where people can hold conversations, with or without you there. It’s where people get to talking. Having forums allows people to have an open dialogue about you and your business, and you can take notes.

4. Reviews

Reviews are a great way to find pain points. People generally give their honest feedback on what they liked or didn’t like. Go through your reviews and try to find similarities between some of the things people “wished” for. Someone may leave you a great review but add, “but I wish there were more colors.” In that case, that’s a pain point; even though they shopped with you, the lack of colors could be why another customer turned their head.

5. Keyword searches

Keyword searches are unique because you can also see other businesses that are similar to yours and see what their pain points are. Find ways to do keyword searches of your company and product to see the words used to describe the topic. Let’s say you have an acupuncture business. The main question in the keyword is “does it work.” Now you know that the pain point for acupuncture, in general, is proof of if it works. You can take that information and find ways to eliminate that as a pain point. You can have educational courses available, provide testimonials or create a post that has research.

6. Check out the comment section

As a small business owner, you should be checking and commenting on all comments you get as a means of interacting, but it also is an excellent way to identify pain points. Most people will voice their concerns about a product in the comment section, often in a form of a question. It is your job to take those questions and comments and find a way to have a solution.

For more information check out my Tik Tok video below.

Next Steps

After identifying your pain points, it’s time to move on to the next step. You should be doing everything you can to come up with a solution.

As explained in my Tik Tok, if shipping is a client’s pain point because it’s too high, you maneuver. Instead of charging $9 for the candle and $3 for shipping. You then charge $12 for the candle and make shipping free.

That is just one example of how you can solve a customer’s pain point. Understanding your audience’s pain points is another way to improve your small business.

Now you should have an idea of what a pain point is, why it’s important and how you can find your target audience’s pain point! Share and pin this post with others that will find it helpful! Ruth Sherrill Marketing Services is a marketing agency that specializes in helping business owners create profit and nurture an audience through shareable and informative content. Keep up with us on our socials by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok!