Choose a core market,
then serve it well
by Kelly Schwedland
If you want to draw customers like a magnet, then you need to have a marketing strategy — not just an advertising strategy.
Now, before you misunderstand what I mean, let me explain. A marketing strategy is far more than just advertising, direct mail or sales. Marketing starts with an understanding of who buys from you and why they buy from you. Without knowing these two critical points, you are missing a major component of your business.
Marketing is all about knowing who your most probable customer is and what motivates him to buy. This is the foundation upon which everything in your business should be built.
Before I finish with this point, I want to be clear on one issue. You must pick one type of customer. Business owners tell me repeatedly that they serve a wide variety of customers and they can’t just pick one. Well, it is no wonder they have a hard time getting customers because not one of them feels special.
Here is a quick example to make my point. If you owned an ice cream store would you rather have as a regular customer someone who buys an ice cream cone once a month or 20 times a month?
If you had to spend $100 to get a regular customer, which one would you rather have? If you had to spend $100 to keep a regular customer, which would you rather have? Anyone can say, "Yeah, but for my business…." Well, I’m here to tell you that premise works day in and day out, just like gravity. Hopefully, you see my point, and you can make use of this article. Focus on only one market segment and serve those needs well.
Look for similarities
Now that we have that cleared up, let’s look at how to do it. The easiest way is to ask your customers about themselves. Then look at those items that seem to be similar in the group that buys the way you like. This doesn’t matter if you sell to individuals or corporations. This is called market demographics. A fancy term for "who buys."
The next step is to look at what motivates people to buy. There are two main items here. First, how do your customers justify their purchase: price, value or the latest trend? Second, from what do your customers get their biggest gratification in life: interaction with people, objects or ideas? This is called psychographics, another term for "why people buy." Here is a clue; often, you can find similarities in the types of jobs people have.
I never said that any of this was easy, just essential. Is it any wonder 80 percent of businesses close in the first five years?
How do we use what we learned? This should be the basis for every decision in your business. With this information, you can direct your advertising at exactly whom you want to buy, with exactly the words that make them feel comfortable. With dropping response rates from advertising, direct mail and now even email it is essential that we create a laser like focus.
You can also use the information to have the right colors and shapes to make your location and materials work better for customers. You will also be able to structure the delivery of your products and services to make them feel special.
All of this is possible, but only after you understand who buys and what they buy.
Kelly Schwedland is president of American Business Dynamics, a small business consulting firm focused on issues related to growing companies.