Lean into Who You Are to Find Your Ideal Customer

Discover how leaning into you are can help you find the ideal customer for your subscription box.

Starting, launching, and growing a subscription box starts with audience building. Before you launch, spend time attracting, engaging, and gathering an audience filled with your ideal customer. Those people who are likely to subscribe to your subscription box. People who connect with you and your brand. People who want what you’re offering. 

Where do you find these people? And how do you know they’re the right ones when you do find them? 

I talk a LOT about audience building - because you cannot have a successful subscription box business if you don’t spend time, every day, building your audience. And part of that conversation always includes identifying - and finding - your ideal customer. 

Happily, it’s not as hard as you might think. One of the best ways to find your ideal customer is by leaning into who you are. 

You are your ideal customer.  

A mistake I see a lot of new subscription box owners - or subscription box hopefuls - make is trying to figure out what kind of subscription box they “should” offer. What kind will make them the most money. 

The problem with that way of thinking is that it makes identifying, finding, and understanding your ideal customer that much harder. 

If I decide to create a subscription box for men who hunt ducks, I’m making things difficult. Is there an audience for men who hunt ducks? There absolutely is. Would some of those men be interested in a subscription box filled with items that appeal to duck hunters? Very likely. 

But…Will it be easy for me - a southern woman who doesn’t hunt, who doesn’t really spend a whole lot of time in nature - to speak the language of duck hunting men? To know and understand their problems, needs, and wants? To find them, engage with them, and build connections with them? 

When you are your ideal customer, you already know and understand the needs, problems, and wants of your audience. You know how to talk to them. You know what language to use and how to use your own experiences to connect with them. 

So many members of Launch Your Box have found success by serving an audience a whole lot like themselves. Anne of the Brighter Life for Dentists subscription serves female dentists - just like her. 

Britney of Imperfect Inspiration serves adults with ADHD. And guess what? Britney herself is an adult with ADHD. Listen to episode 75 of the Launch Your Box podcast for her story. 

Nicole is a guinea pig owner and lover who couldn’t find a subscription box for guinea pig owners. So she started a box to serve people just like her - and their furry friends. 

Narrow your focus - the riches are in the niches. 

Part of leaning into who you are is narrowing your focus or niching down. 

I know. You’re worried that if you niche down, you’ll have fewer people to market to. Fewer people who may become subscribers. 

The opposite is true. One of the things I say a LOT inside Launch Your Box is, “The riches are in the niches.” What I mean by that is that you can actually attract MORE people when you’re more specific about who you are trying to attract. 

Let’s talk this through. 

I’m a mom. So I could start a subscription box for all moms. 

But when I start creating content and working on my messaging, I realize I’m all over the place. One minute I’m talking about fun daytime activities with preschoolers, another I’m sharing easy dinner recipes for busy sports moms and the next I’m talking about how to get your newborn to sleep through the night. 

All of those posts are for moms. And all are valuable pieces of content that would connect with a certain kind of mom. 

I’m a southern mom of two busy teenagers who rarely has time to do anything for myself. When I started my Monogram Box™ subscription, I was the southern mom of two busy school-aged kids who rarely had time to do anything for myself. So… My ideal customer - the person I create content for and curate amazing boxes for every month -  is someone a whole lot like me. She’s a busy southern mom. 

As a subscription box owner, you get to make the decisions. You decide who to serve and how to serve them. And sometimes, who you serve changes. 

Don’t be afraid to pivot.

Julie, a member of Launch Your Box, had a tea towel subscription. She’d grown to about 100 subscribers and maintained that level. It was a successful subscription and brought recurring revenue into her business every month. But it wasn’t growing. Julie was stuck at that 100 subscriber mark. 

When she started problem-solving, Julie remembered me saying, “The riches are in the niches.” And Julie realized she was part of a pretty specific niche. 

She was a pilot's wife. 

Julie was already passionate about supporting this community - she’d been facilitating a Facebook group for pilot wives for several years. When she pitched the idea of a subscription box to that group - a box just for them - they responded enthusiastically. 

Julie launched and sold out her initial 100 spots with ease. But the growth didn’t stop there. Soon Julie had 400 subscribers - 400 pilot wives who received a box curated just for them. Curated by someone just like them - someone who understands the unique challenges and joys that come with being a pilot wife. 

Hear more about Julie’s story on episode 96 of the Launch Your Box podcast. 

By getting more specific, and not being afraid to pivot, Julie found greater success and greater satisfaction! 

Lean into who you are - and get specific. Are you an animal lover? What kind of animal? If dogs are your passion, what kind? Small dogs, large dogs, a particular breed? Are you a crafter? What kind of crafts? What medium do you use? What style of crafts do you make? 

Take some time to think about who you are, what you LOVE and are truly passionate about. Building a business around something you care deeply about makes the hard days a whole lot easier to get through!