In part one of this article we discussed the seven organizational
resources that are critical to optimize and three questions you
must answer in any prospects mind if you are to successfully
market and sell your product or service.
With that information in hand, it is not time to look at whom you
should be marketing to.
There are four groups to consider marketing to.
– The Universe
– Target Market
– Prospects
– Clients
The “Universe” is everyone outside of your immediate presence.
If you sold life insurance then the “Universe” would literally be
all the people in your country, state, or city.
“Target Market” is those people who meet a specific set of
criteria. They are the best fit for your offer. You can define
your target market in terms of demographics, needs, experience
based on your current customers, or an industry segment that you
wish to penetrate.
“Prospects” are those people out of your target market that have
responded to one or more of your marketing efforts and have shown
some interest.
“Clients” are those people who have used your products or
services in the past.
It is very common for business professionals to see the greater
numbers in “The Universe” and try and market to them. The
reality is that it is much easier, more cost effective, and you
will get better results if you try to be a big fish in a small
pond then a small fish in a big ocean.
Most companies do not have unlimited marketing budgets. Since it
takes nine marketing impressions to move someone to buy, and the
average person misses two out of every three marketing attempts,
you need twenty-seven marketing attempts to get those nine
impressions. That is a very costly proposition in a large pool
of people.
I have worked with companies that have been “land locked” by
franchise agreements. They operated in a small town of 24,000
people and could not market in other towns only 40 minutes away.
At first this concerned them, but they realized that now they
could focus on the “pond” instead of the “ocean.” In their
industry no one made a buying decision in their city without
giving them a chance at the business. Over the course of a few
years they had built up a very enviable marketing position.
First and foremost, market to your clients. They already have
shown that they trust and like you. It is always easier to go
back and sell an additional product or service to an existing
client. These sales will be the greatest in size and the highest
profit. You will spend less time generating more dollars then in
any other market segment.
After you exhaust your marketing efforts with your clients then
look to your prospects. They make the next most logical and
effective market segment to penetrate.
After you exhaust your prospects you will need to think about
working your target market. The better defined your target
market is, the more productive your efforts here will be. Look
at your existing clients. What do they have in common? Can you
categorize them by any common characteristics? Do they have
similar incomes, marital status, or family size?
Once you specifically know what your target market is, or your
“best fit” client, you can then begin to communicate with that
market in order to generate prospects.
You should probably never even think about marketing to the
universe. If you are a bank or McDonalds Hamburgers, then maybe
the universe is a viable market. But for the rest of us we just
do not have the resources to justify that kind of decision.
The next step in marketing is to look at “The Four Phases To
Marketing Success.” We will do that in our next issue. In the
meantime look at your business history. Spend some time today
carefully defining your target market. You will need that
information as we move forward.
Great marketing can help you achieve great results. Work with
these principles, and you will be on the road to Building a
Better Biz!
