Do people with disabilities know your product exists?

​By the time you get to the end of this article… You’ll be saying to yourself, well that’s obvious isn’t it?
 
However, you may also say, due to my background and own personal circumstances… It would make sense that I would find it easy to market a value proposition in this particular sector.  Then again, you may realise that you too can do it!
 
When I remember back to my days at university studying marketing, we were always taught to understand the customer. What this really means is making sure that you are able to create a product or service that meets the needs of the customer.
 
However, what I quickly understood was, even if you have created this product and have it at the right price… You will often find that people are NOT buying it.
 
This will lead to questioning the product, the people you are working with and even your own skills.
 
However, at this point you need to think about, what have you actually done to tell your customers that this product or service exists? Is it really enough to have a website?  Does it suffice to simply open the social media channels?  Is it enough to simply send existing customers emails/brochures?  
 
Then in addition to these direct methods… Maybe you’ve invested in Google Ads or and put your ads in a few magazines? Do you really think all this is enough to tell ALL your potential customers about your product or service?
 
In many cases, yes this might be true… The above mentioned activities will mean people know about your product and you will make sales. 
 
However, the key point missed here is that we are expecting customers and potential customers to already know about our product. And in places where they may not know about our products, we are using magazines, and with magazines we really have no way of telling us exactly how many people have seen the Ad.

Another method

​For me, the most important way to target your customers is through Facebook Ads.  Before you think about what is involved in Facebook adverts. I would mention that the Facebook audience network… And 'audience network' being the operative word… Consists of 43 million people just here in the UK alone, with a population circa 65m, that puts Facebook in a very powerful position.
 
Moreover we can use Facebook to target customers who are unaware your product and/or brand exist and we can introduce the product to them. This is possible due to the way Facebook allows us to filter behaviours, interests, likes/dislikes and many other variables in order to find our target audience.

It's obvious

Yes, for those of you who don’t know me… I do have Multiple Sclerosis and use a mobility scooter… So, it could be argued that because of my knowledge of the industry, own personal circumstances, marketing background and involvement in social media since 2010; that puts me in the perfect position to be able to Market products and services to those in the  sector.              
 
However, I believe it is something we can all understand.

The Target Audience

​If we were to take things right back to the start.  What do we know about people who may require products that appeal to independent living or people with disabilities?

​It would be a fair assumption to say that they struggle getting about and need some sort of assistance getting from place-to-place.
 
So, as with any customer what do you do? You just make life easier for them and give them a solution to their problems. So, in addition to not being able to get about easily, you are now inviting them to come to your fancy showroom in some part of the country in order to view the product you are selling.
 
Do you see the irony there?  We are almost creating a problem to achieve the solution.
 
There are so many groups, people and organisations on social media and especially on Facebook. People with disabilities are already engaging on there, so why wouldn’t you advertise on there?
 
Why are we making it difficult for people? We have access to photographs, videos and technical information and we can put this literally in the palm of the hand of our customer.
 
This is what we should be doing and Facebook Ads allows you to do this.

Solution

​As mentioned at the start… The solution is simple. 

​We use assets, such as videos, photographs and product information and put this within a post/advert and show this to the customer (highlighted above).  I can’t really think of a simpler way of getting to the customer
 
Yes, it’s great to have other advertising channels, attend events, use other forms of digital marketing… But if you’re not using Facebook Ads, you are really missing out.
 
If anyone wants more information or some pointers… Feel free to give me a shout.
 
WhatsApp, Messenger or call on 0161 410 1234.         

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