- Identify a target market.
- Develop a marketing message and AGM (attention getting mechanism.
- Create marketing message that will attract prospects and set you apart.
- Develop visibility in your target market .
- Keep following up to build relationships and credibility, it is all about relationships.
Many will define their target market as either small to medium businesses or prospects reached by word of mouth. We will look at reasons that each of these definitions will cost you time and money.
In reality the small to medium business is a very global market. There are literally millions of them around and probably thousands in your area. If you want to target this area, you will need to focus on a smaller subset because the more general the market the more expensive it is to reach in terms of both time and money. Without specific focus your position is that of another marketer who has no knowledge of “the unique needs and challenges” of an industry.
Generalists must bid on projects but established specialists get calls with a request to do the work as an outsourced proposition. Moreover, the solutions provided by generalists are less effective than those provided by specialists because the specialist is more relative to the uniqueness of the industry or type of business. The specialist understands the needs and they have a base of referrals from others within the targeted group. Focus on a specific target market to increase revenue, cut marketing costs, and make business development easier and more effective.
People you can reach through word of mouth from clients and colleagues is not a target market. Your group of business associates is generally a cross section of industries. Sure it is nice to receive a referral but unless it is from within a segment of your target market, you may have just become a generalist again. It just is not a powerful marketing strategy.
Word of mouth or referrals depend on the good will of others, and is a passive approach. Most of your clients and colleagues are busy with their own alligators and not actively spreading the word about your business. It is more productive to focus on creating a proactive referral process within the target market to attract prospects to you.
When you focus on a very specific target market your efforts will deliver more. Your business development costs decrease. It’s much easier to reach people in a focused niche. They read the same trade magazines and go to the same meetings. In this environment you will be much better known and within and organization word travels faster than in a personal network because the members share solutions, and you become known as a solution provider.
You understand the unique needs of their marketplace and have unique solutions to provide that the generalist cannot even think of. Your tailored solutions are above and beyond what can be found elsewhere because you are the specialist.
That means you can charge higher fees because the target market will pay more for the unique solution and they will call you first, before they put out a request for pricing. When you become a recognized expert in your niche, more prospects will hire you without sending their project out to bid.
You can develop a national business, even with a local presence. By focusing on a niche audience, you can market through national publications that target your industry. This kind of recognition will cause even more people in your niche to seek you out. Remember we started out indicating the five steps:
- Identify a target marke
- Develop a marketing message and AGM (attention getting mechanism).
- Create a marketing message that will attract prospects and set you apart.
- Develop visibility in your target market.
- Keep following up to build relationships and credibility, it is all about relationships.
Next time we can look at how to identify the target market. Happy Marketing to you!
No comments:
Post a Comment