| ||
| ||
|
Marketing Information | |
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |||
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |||
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting | |||
| ||||||
|
| ||||
|
Target Your Market
Your market is not everybody, as so many small businesses assume. It is the people/organizations who need, want, have the money--and the willingness--to pay for what you are offering. Identifying them can be complicated and expensive, or it can be relatively painless and cheap. How much do you need to know about them? Enough to have all the clues on how to reach them, and what to say, when you do. Finding your target is vital, so whatever method you choose, do it properly and test your assumptions. Research The best place to start is with what you already know. What does your company know about its clients? Do you already have a perfect client--the one you wish you had more of? Examine their demographics. Who are they, where are they, what are they spending, what are they earning, how many employees do they have? And any other information that may help you build a clear picture. Now, identify what need your product or service is fulfilling. Who needs your product or service the most? What industry are they in? Where are they located and how can you reach them? Further Research Once you have exhausted your internal research, go further. Interview potential prospects. Ask questions that deal with the benefits you bring: Is there a need? Is there awareness of your type of offering? Try to identify any unfulfilled needs: price, service or other benefits. See if there are any weaknesses in the competition. If all those you survey are happy with their present supplier, you should ask yourself if is this the right target. If you are targeting specific industries, read their trade magazines and investigate their associations. Associations often publish directories with statistics concerning their members. These can be found in your local library. Boards of trade put out listings of their members, divided into services provided. Business directories are invaluable. They list businesses geographically and according to industry sector. They also give you the products offered, the number of employees, sales figures and the principles involved. Armed with this information, you can survey a number of these potential targets to confirm they are in need of your benefits. Remember, these are not sales calls. Ask for 5 minutes of their time, and ask only non-sales questions. Simply gather data and thank them for their time. Resist pitching yourself. You now have an idea of who your target is and where they are, but what are they thinking? How much do they know and what do they need to know? This brings you to the world of Psychographics. Psychographics don't come from Jo Jo the Psychic reading your target's mind (although, it would be nice). They relate to how your target thinks about certain issues, and the way they do business. Much of this information comes from studying your potential targets. Put yourself in their shoes. Talk their language, think their thoughts, feel their emotions, respond to their cues. To catch a fish you have to think like a fish. If this all sounds daunting, you may want to hire a research company. This can be expensive, but if you don't have the skills, time or the inclination to do it yourself, it's perfect. Any research company worth its salt can identify your target down to the colour of their underwear (if they wear any). The tighter your focus, the more effective your materials can be. All your prospects have different levels of awareness of your type of product/ service. Using Capstone's Awareness Scale?, divide your potential prospects into three groups: 1. Those who are unaware of the existence or the benefits of your type of product/ service. This is the Educational Target. 2. Those who are aware but unsure or unconvinced. This is the Doubter Target. 3. Those who are convinced and buying. This is the Differentiation Target. Once you define your ideal prospect, you're set. This perfect buyer falls in the middle of a bell curve of prospects with similar wants and needs. The positioning and communication strategies and tactics you develop to sell this prospect will apply to most of your prospects. Keith Thirgood, Creative Director Capstone Communications Group Helping businesses get more business through innovative marketing Markham, Ontario, Canada 905-472-2330 Subscribe to Thrive-on-line http://list.capstonecomm.com/mail.cgi?f=list&l=thrive_on_line
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
To Swag or Not to Swag: Tip to Brand Your Tchotchkes on a Shoestring It's interesting to see how resourceful people become when starting their own business. Especially when budget is tight, creative juices go into high gear. Marketing is More Important Than Expertise Being a master of your craft, skill, or talent doesn't ensure the success of your business. You can be the greatest at what you do, and if nobody knows about you, you're quickly out of business. There's More to Marketing ROI (return on investment) Than Meets the Eye All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, "I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible." This is wrong think. Promote your Business and Products through Submitting Articles to Top Web Sites Articles submitted to online publishers bring your site new visitors and increase your ezine subscribers. You can also get these benefits by submitting your articles to top Web sites that not only promote your products, but also your services. Marketing A Misunderstood or Scary Product or Service What do you do if your business, product or service is something hardly anyone is aware of or understands? Or worse yet, if it is something they are afraid of or want to avoid?My answer is three-fold.First, focus on the SOLUTION you are providingWhat is the primary problem your prospects have that you can solve? Do they have pain you can relieve? Do they have an ailment or affliction you can cure? In these cases, you are not selling your "scary" or "misunderstood" product or service, you are selling pain relief or healing. Effective Marketing for Small Businesses Effective marketing for the small business begins with market researchIf you don't know who your customers are, how on earth are you going to reach them? The most effective small business marketing strategies are the most highly targeted ones: the ones which are based on a clear understanding of who their target audience is. What's your target age group and income bracket? What publications do they read? What do they do for fun? For it to be truly successful, your marketing should try to address an issue your target market deal with, fulfil a need or answer a problem. 5 Print Ad Essentials! Writing an effective print ad, particularly a classified advertisement, requires that you remember five essential points. Failure to implement these points correctly can cost you much in the way of time lost and a sale missed. Resistances To Marketing a Practice-Part 1 If you are a therapist, counselor, or an alternative or complementary health practitioner (naturopath, homeopathetic doctor, massage therapist, body worker, etc.), in all likelihood, you are not only uninformed about effective marketing methods, but you are also likely to have some negative feelings about self promotion and marketing. What is a Marketing Plan Anyway? Building a business that grows steadily in size and profits is like building your dream house. First, you identify what kind of home you want, then you and your architect plan and create blueprints for your house, then you'd build it, move in and enjoy it. 7 Great Ways to Market Yourself and Your Business to Help Increase Sales Do you own a business and need ideas on how to market your products or services to your customers? Well, the one thing that every business owner needs to know is that in order to survive, you need customers willing to spend their hard earned money for your products or services. The only way to drive customers to your business is to market yourself and your business in a way that customers believe in you and willing to spend money. Marketing Plans... A Simple Approach To Get Off The Marketing Roller Coaster Are You Riding The Marketing Roller Coaster?If you're like many of the small business owners or independent professionals I meet, then running and marketing your business can be like riding on a roller coaster. I'm picturing a roller coaster that mostly goes up and down as opposed to one that flips you upside-down or sends you around backwards. The Secret to 100% Success With Your Marketing There's a secret to marketing, which is so simple, yet so effective once you learn it and apply it, you'll be amazed at the great results you can produce. This secret will prevent you from failing with your marketing pieces. Marketing Quandaries Being in a quandary prevents you from moving forward in developing and marketing your business. When we're in a quandary, we are in a state of perplexity and doubt. Web Site Marketing Strategy: 8 Ways To Increase The Perceived Value Of Your Freebies It is a well known web site marketing strategy: To attract new customers and traffic, give out something for free: e-zine, ebooks, software, services etc.But as you already know, most people don't appreciate what they get for free because they will always suspect there must be catch. Do You Know Where Your Marketing Dollars Are Going? We all know the importance of marketing to increase sales and bring in new business.But, do you honestly know where your marketing dollars are being spent most effectively. Packaging Made Frozen TV Dinners Possible I was saddened to hear of the passing of one of the food industry pioneers Gerry Thomas, One of our unsung heroes credited with invented a "package" the frozen TV dinner that literally changed the way we eat. Never mind that it was considered by nutritionists as a step backwards, his invention still made a major shift in the food and food services industries. Do I Need an RSS Feed? RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way. Peek a Boo - We See You -- 7 Trade Show Tips for Marketing Managers Peek a Boo - We See YouDoes your company have a description for a full-time job that says "Stand in the booth and hand out brochures."?Doubt it. Communication Breakdown - Dont Let It Happen To You Do you have Communication breakdown?How are you communicating with your contacts?We need:Contacts we can send emails to regarding our business opportunities.Contacts we can build up a good working relationship with, similar interests as far as business opportunities go. How You Can Make Money From Competitors Easy Are you market products and services using PPCs? PPC Advertising is one of the fastest and easiest ways to get visitors, capture email addresses and make sales. However, I am sure not every campaign you created are profitable.
|
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting |
|
Home | Site Map | Traffic Building
| Free
Classified Ads | Free-For-All
Ads | Reciprocal
Links | Search
Engines | |
| Copyright © 2006-2007. The Highland Marketing Group. All Rights Reserved. |
|
| ||
|
