I have been asked to speak in February to the North Shore Business Forum on the topic of “Target Marketing” and how it is essential to better sales results. So, what is target marketing and why should a business owner care to know their target market? Well, most business owners lack a large sales force and unlimited resources for advertising their product so determining the best target audience or the people who are most likely to buy your product is essential for achieving higher sales. Much like throwing darts at a bulls eye, having a target market for your product allows you to focus your attention in one direction and not everywhere at once. Think how scary it would be to go a dart tournament and have there be no focal point for the darts or no board. “Yikes”, you would be ducking for cover and soon leave the event. The same thing happens when a sales person or an advertising campaign has no idea who their target market is and tries to sell to every warm body out there. People “tune-out” the message because it is of little interest to them. To be a better sales person you must understand who and why you are selling to that person!
First, review which market segment is the most likely to buy your product helps you to know where to focus your advertising dollars and your sales efforts. Consider if your product appeals mostly to men, women, or both. Is there a targeted age or age range that would use your product or be most likely to buy this product. How about income level, is your product priced in a range that is affordable or is it high end and which income level is most likely interested in purchasing it and why. Finally, consider where or which geographic location you wish to sell this product. Selling snow skis in a warm climate will not get the same results that it would if you had a ski shop in the north where it snows. And, if you have no distribution plan set-up to handle shipping your products out of state, then launching an advertising campaign in areas you cannot manage to support is a waste of valuable resources. Your target market is a segment that is created from the best age, gender, geography and socio-economic grouping.
Once you have a target market it is easier to use this information to position your marketing material to appeal to this group of people and launch advertising campaigns in medias where this target audience is most likely to hear your message. This strategy will save you money and get you better results! Making sales calls on anyone not in this group would not be the best use of your time. So, if you are still thinking your customers are anyone who is breathing, then it is time to call in for some marketing help or consider doing an analysis yourself by looking at your current client base, at who your competition is marketing to, and what benefits your product offers and who is most likely to need these benefits .
All my best to your success!
~Charlene
