Target marketing is a very important step in bringing new customers into your business. Whether you have a bricks and mortar business, or an online business, target marketing plays an important key role in the success of your business. You can attract anyone you want on social media with the help of SocialGreg. But nothing is as easy in offline marketing. Learn from my mistakes.
I am in the restaurant business and always try to employ some type of target marketing into my budget every day. By effectively marketing my potential customers, I have been able to grow my business and take on a few new employees. Anyway, a few years ago, a friend approached me with what he claimed to be a “fantastic business deal.” His “fantastic business deal” was this. He had purchased thousands of personal alarms from a warehouse sale and wanted to quickly sell them at a profit. He got them for a song, so he figured he could mark them up a few times and make a killing. What’s a personal alarm you ask? It’s a little square black box that when you pull the pin, it emits a shrieking alarm sound that can ward off an attacker. Okay, well anyway, here’s where target marketing comes in. I bought them all from him and took out a classified ad in the New Times, praising these little lifesavers. Did I target my market? No. Why would I – The New York Times has millions of readers, and surely hundreds of people would read my classified ad and respond to this fantastic offer. I was so excited! How many calls did I receive you ask? None. Not one. I guess people who saw my ad were not interested in personal alarms.
Perhaps if I had taken that eloquently crafted classified ad and placed it in a jogger’s themed magazine, or a crime prevention publication, I would have gotten more of a response. Get my drift? How about if I had searched for local park districts that were conducting classes on self defense. Maybe they would be interested in selling them to their students. Did I effectively use target marketing to my advantage when I placed my ad in the New York Times? You be the judge.
To use effective target marketing to grow your business follow these suggestions.
1. Determine which group of people are most likely to benefit from your product or service. Send them, and only them your marketing material.
2. Get involved in your community. If your local high school is having a craft show, ask about becoming a vendor to showcase your wares. Don’t try to sell your crafts at rock concerts or car shows.
3. If you decide to use classified ads as your outlet for print media, make sure your ad goes into the correct category. If you’re selling encyclopedias, don’t place your ad in the “pets for sale” category. This is not effective target marketing for your business.
4. After you’ve discovered your target market, repeated attempts to get their attention will get you better results than a one-time shot. Send your promotional information multiple times, say once a month to targeted potential customers. The repetition of seeing your marketing piece will start to gain their trust.
5. A targeted mailing list is your most valuable ally when target marketing for your business. Sending your direct mail pieces to people who already use or have a strong desire to use your product or service will be your ticket to greater sales.
6. Don’t skimp on the quality of your mailing lists when target marketing. If the lists are stale and out of date, all you’ll be doing is wasting your time and money. Make sure you only deal with reputable list brokers who can help you determine which criteria is most relevant to your target market.
7. Never think that your product or service is so great that you don’t have to use target marketing in your marketing program. Don’t for a minute think that “everyone will want to use my product.” They won’t. You must remember to be very specific in determining who would benefit from your product or services.
Your business will benefit by following these common-sense tips on target marketing. By trial and error you will learn which target marketing strategies you will employ into your target marketing program.
