If you run a business, then chances are you have a lot on your plate, more so than the rest of the population who do not run a business whilst juggling the rest of their lives, anyway. But you know what? You could potentially cut down your workload and boost your business by doing one simple thing. What’s that I hear you say, well it’s quite simple: you need to stop doing everything and start focusing in on who you are as a business and what it is you do. You need to, in other words, get specific.
So many businesses end up spreading themselves too thin because they try to chase every single new trend or shiny new tool that promises the earth, when they would be better off narrowing their focus on the essentials that actually matter.
Sound familiar? Time to cut through the noise, get specific, and focus on those things that will actually bring results for your business.
1. Your Target Audience
“Everyone is my customer.” Nope. That’s the fastest way to be bland, forgettable, and broke.
You don’t want to serve everyone. You want to serve the right people, the ones who need what you do, will pay for it happily, and will tell their friends about you.
Get specific about:
- Who they are (demographics).
- How they think (psychographics).
- What problem they desperately want solved.
- Where they hang out (online and offline).
If you’re a hotel, for example, stop shouting into the void and use marketing solutions designed for hotels that actually target travelers searching for your location, amenities, or niche. Broad is boring. Narrow is profitable. This is the basic truth of any business, and if you stick to it, instead of trying to be everything for everyone, you will do a whole lot better as a result.
2. Your Value Proposition
This is the thing that answers the question every customer secretly asks: “Why should I choose you over the other dozen options?”
If your answer is vague – “we care about quality” or “we’re passionate about customer service” – you’ll sound like everyone else. Specificity sells because people will truly understand what they can expect from you and why it is something they should actually care about.
Instead of “we make great coffee,” say:
- “We roast beans sourced from women-owned farms in Colombia.”
- “We serve a flat white that tastes like velvet in a cup.”
- “We deliver your order in under 10 minutes, or your next latte’s free.”
The more concrete you are, the more your customers can picture themselves choosing you.
3. Your Brand Voice
Consistency in tone is underrated as a tactic for business success. Do you want to sound playful? Professional? Bold? Reassuring? Too many businesses mix it all up—Instagram posts sound like a cheeky intern, while the website reads like a tax attorney wrote it, and this confuses the customer and makes it hard for them to get what it is you do.
Choose a voice and stick with it. If your brand were a person, how would they speak? Would they crack jokes, drop pop-culture references, or keep things buttoned up?
Specificity here builds trust because customers know what to expect. And trust is currency.
4. Your Marketing Channels
Spoiler: you don’t need to be on every social platform. In fact, trying to dominate TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Threads, and BeReal simultaneously is a recipe for burnout and mediocrity.
Pick the channels where your audience already lives. Double down on those. If you’re B2B, LinkedIn and email might be your power combo. If you’re a lifestyle brand, Instagram and Pinterest might be your playground.
Be intentional. Be specific. And don’t be afraid to say “nope” to platforms that don’t serve you.
5. Your Metrics
What gets measured gets managed, but not everything worth tracking matters.
Stop obsessing over vanity metrics like follower counts. Instead, focus on the numbers tied directly to growth and sustainability:
- Conversion rates
- Customer lifetime value
- Retention rates
- Cost per acquisition
- Net promoter score
By getting specific with metrics, you’ll stop wasting time celebrating the wrong wins (hello, 10K followers who never buy) and start focusing on what truly fuels your bottom line.
6. Your Processes
Processes sound boring, but they’re the unsung heroes of scalability. Without them, you’re stuck reinventing the wheel every single day. With them, you’re free to focus on growth.
Where to get specific:
- How you onboard new customers.
- How you train staff.
- How you handle complaints.
- How you create, publish, and promote content.
Document, streamline, repeat. A process doesn’t mean rigidity; it means clarity. And clarity creates freedom.
7. Your Customer Experience
This is the battlefield where brands live or die. Customers won’t remember every ad you served them, but they will remember how you made them feel.
Specificity here is about designing experiences that align with your brand and stick in customers’ minds:
- The personalized thank-you note with an online order.
- The lightning-fast response to a late-night support chat.
- The consistent little “extra” that makes people smile (like the free biscotti with every coffee order).
Get granular. Ask: what tiny details could we add or refine that would turn our customers into raving fans?
Why Specificity Works
Being specific does three things for your business:
- Cuts through the noise. In a world drowning in generic marketing, specificity is refreshing.
- Builds trust. Customers believe in details. They’re skeptical of vague promises but buy into tangible, concrete ones.
- Creates efficiency. The more focused you are, the less time and money you waste chasing what doesn’t matter.
It’s the difference between throwing spaghetti at the wall and serving a perfectly cooked plate of pasta. One’s a mess; the other gets applause.
Summing Up
Business success isn’t about doing all the things. It’s about doing the right things, really well, with laser focus.
Get specific about who you serve, what you offer, how you speak, where you market, what you measure, how you operate, and how you treat your customers.
The more intentional you are in these areas, the less you’ll feel like that unicyclist with flaming torches, and the more you’ll feel like a business owner steering a rocket ship.
And let’s be honest: wouldn’t you rather be building momentum toward the stars than wobbling along on a tightrope?
Also read: Sustainable Workspace Ideas for Budget-Conscious Businesses
