Cold audiences are in the awareness phase. They aren’t aware that you are the solution to their problem. In some cases, they may not even be aware that they have a problem.

Understanding a cold audience is the first step to speaking their language.

In the last post, 3 Types of Online Traffic I explained that there is traffic that we control, traffic that we don’t control and traffic that we own and that leads us right into the discussion of audience temperature. If you’ve heard the terms “warm” and “cold” audiences but don’t understand the difference, you’re in the right place because I am going to explain it to you right now.

There are 3 audience temperatures:

• Cold
• Warm
• Buyers (HOT)

We’ll start at the beginning, so in this post we’ll talk about cold audiences. My next post will be about warm audiences so stay tuned.

Cold Audiences Aren’t Aware

They don’t know who are you. They’ve never seen you before and don’t know what you’re about or what you have to offer. They come from traffic that we control when running advertising, but also from traffic we don’t control if they find you on social media or YouTube. That’s the one thing about cold traffic, it can be both types.

Brand awareness is the name of the game but not just your visual communication as in graphics or aesthetics. Becoming brand aware means learning about what solution you provide and the benefit of it. Building a rapport is an important part of warming them up so concentrating on service and community can make all the difference. Becoming familiar with a brand cultivates the know, like and trust factor by the introduction so your cold audiences want to know:

• Who you are
• Who you serve or help
• What problem you solve
• Where you are located online
• Where can they get more

Answering questions like these will warm them up, in other words – build familiarity and likability. When I’m online and I see someone running an ad to buy their course or program without being introduced, I’m not going to buy. No one buys from someone they don’t know so warming up your cold audience requires strategy. Give freely to these new people and start building trust. After they get to know you, they’ll like you and if they trust you, they’ll seek your solution. In other words, they’ll be buying.

The Introduction

It’s all about value, but you already know that. What can you give freely to warm them up and turn them into a cold audience that has never heard of you to an audience that is growing to know and like you? It’s simple. Give them something that introduces your brand and what you do by solving a small problem for them.

For example, if you are selling a course on basket weaving, offer them a resolution that basket weavers have been struggling with. Do they have problems getting their materials? Doing an intricate weave pattern? Creating new things? Give it to them. A resource that is consumable in under 5 minutes that gives them a step up in their creative process is gold.

When marketing to cold audiences it’s important to convey the following right out of the gate because  confused mind always says no:

• My brand serves basket weavers
• We help _______ do _______ so that they can ________
• Here is a solution to the problem of not knowing any new weave patterns – for free
• Here are additional trustworthy resources in your basket weaving journey – for free
• You can expect me to share __________________ so stay tuned

The Importance of Research

Identifying the answers to the above questions is where your research should begin. Introducing content relevant to their struggle will not only improve your results, but help to build your authority. To be seen as a leader, you have to lead your chosen people so knowing exactly what cold audience you are going to target in your marketing is crucial. Find out:

• Where they hang out – so you know where to go to attract them
• What problem do they have – so you know what to solve for them
• What language they are using to describe the problem or ask for help – so you know how to speak to them

Dig in and identify your buyer persona or ideal client. Is it Sarah, who is a single mom trying to work from home? Does she have an idea for a course that could make other moms money online? What are her likes? What is she interested in? Is she between the ages of 24 and 45?

Knowing what they want and putting the right message in front of them can turn any cold audience into raving fans when speaking their language and helping them sleep at night, so don’t be afraid of the cold audience. It may be the doorway to a whole new tribe. Don’t be surprised if your cold audience is also unaware of the fact that they even have a problem yet.

It is possible to put an ad in front of someone who not only knows nothing about you, but nothing about the fact that they even have a problem to begin with.

Do I Need a Sales Funnel?

People who are cold to you and your service may not be aware that they have a problem that you can solve for them. If someone is telling me that they cannot sell their course and I tell them that they need a sales funnel, they may not even know what a funnel is or how it can help them. My job is to introduce myself as well as the answer to their sales problem.

In this instance, they may have never heard the term “sales funnel” before, they just know that they can’t sell their course …and by the way  …who am I and how can I help them make the sale?

For me, my cold audience cannot sell their course and are looking for serious growth so I wouldn’t start by introducing the fabulous Miss Lynne and how great she is …no no. I’m going to introduce myself as the solution. I am the builder of the funnel, the maker of strategy, the marketing person they have been looking for – even if they didn’t know they needed a marketing person in the first place.

See how that worked?