You can't hit a target if you don't focus.
One of our potential clients recently came in with an idea for a new product that they wanted to market. When asked who they would like to target with their advertising, their answer was, “Everyone can use this.” Although some products may garner a mass appeal over time (McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Microsoft are good examples) all products have to start solving the problems of a narrower target market.
You may not have focused your target enough to effectively market your product or service if you haven’t taken the time to really think through two things. First, what type of consumer (market segment) is the most likely to regularly use your product/service? And second, is your defined market segment big enough to justify the price you charge to make your business viable?
I owned a dry cleaning delivery company, and it was very important to go through this process when targeting new clients. Sure, anyone could use our pick-up and delivery service however, I found that the most viable potential clients fell into two categories; business people who always needed to look their best but worked long hours, and mothers with young children who did not need another errand to run.
I developed different, and specifically targeted, materials for each of the two market segments. An at-home mom would be more easily sold on the convenience of the dry cleaning delivery service, while the business person would be more concerned with the high quality of the cleaning and pressing we provided. Happily, both market segments were significant enough, and both had the buying power, to make the business a success.
Had I tried some blanket approach that targeted any and every reason a customer may have used our service, the potential client would have been overwhelmed with their options. Rather than having the marketing materials sell them on the service, they would have done more to confuse the reader and, worse, cause no action at all.
Back to the original story of our potential client, in the end, rather than targeting everyone, they decided—with our guidance—to target sales professionals and frequent air travelers. Both of these focused groups would have the need, as well as the funds, to purchase the product we would be marketing. Now comes the fun part: creating the materials that will focus and hit those target market segments squarely and effectively.
You may not have focused your target enough to effectively market your product or service if you haven’t taken the time to really think through two things. First, what type of consumer (market segment) is the most likely to regularly use your product/service? And second, is your defined market segment big enough to justify the price you charge to make your business viable?
I owned a dry cleaning delivery company, and it was very important to go through this process when targeting new clients. Sure, anyone could use our pick-up and delivery service however, I found that the most viable potential clients fell into two categories; business people who always needed to look their best but worked long hours, and mothers with young children who did not need another errand to run.
I developed different, and specifically targeted, materials for each of the two market segments. An at-home mom would be more easily sold on the convenience of the dry cleaning delivery service, while the business person would be more concerned with the high quality of the cleaning and pressing we provided. Happily, both market segments were significant enough, and both had the buying power, to make the business a success.
Had I tried some blanket approach that targeted any and every reason a customer may have used our service, the potential client would have been overwhelmed with their options. Rather than having the marketing materials sell them on the service, they would have done more to confuse the reader and, worse, cause no action at all.
Back to the original story of our potential client, in the end, rather than targeting everyone, they decided—with our guidance—to target sales professionals and frequent air travelers. Both of these focused groups would have the need, as well as the funds, to purchase the product we would be marketing. Now comes the fun part: creating the materials that will focus and hit those target market segments squarely and effectively.
Posted by Scott De Baets at 4/5/2010 8:52 AM 
Categories: Marketing Monday
Tags: market segments marketing target marketing
Categories: Marketing Monday
Tags: market segments marketing target marketing
Loved this, too often I try and cast too wide a net and end up getting very few new customers.
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