Now that you know the 4 P’s of marketing, you can really begin to narrow your focus, pull back, look straight down the arrow, release – and BULLSEYE! Identifying the market you want to hit—your target markets—is the best way to build your brand and shoot strategic arrows that count and give you the best return on investment. If you’ve been in a class with us, or if you’ve listened to us much at all, we believe in marketing to your 100 dream customers, than trying to market to a million people and then trying to get to your 100 dream customers.
It’s important to evaluate who you want to and should market to, how you plan to market to those audiences, and even when the best time to market is. You already have a head start because you have spent the time identifying the 4 P’s. You know your product inside out and have identified what makes it unique and special; that is one essential key to determining where and when you will market your product/services. But now, you have to determine who your customer is and how and where to market to that target audience.
WHO?
If you have developed a line of bicycles, you have to figure out who would want your bicycle, when they would be looking to purchase a bicycle, and how to convince them that they need one of your bicycles. Of course, there are different demographics potentially for each of your bikes, so you have to really take an eagle-eye and determine your target market. Researching and knowing who (men, women, millennials, generation X’ers, babyboomers, etc…) spend the most money, have the most money, and are more likely to spend discretionary funds on bicycles is key.
Conducting surveys and doing your own market research at trade shows, markets, sporting events, etc… will help you to gather live demographic data. Of course, the internet offers a fair amount of demographic data, but you have to take it with a grain of salt (mind you, it’s a great place to start). Leave no stone unturned by heading to community events and fairs and set up a booth where people can learn more about you and you can learn about their interests in your product. You may want to consider a marketing firm or agency can also be enlisted to do the research for you because that is his/her area of expertise.
HOW and WHERE?
Now that you have a succinct idea of who your market is, it’s important to determine how and where to find your target market. You must ask yourself and do the research to discover what their shopping habits are and where they make their purchases. The fact that we have the world at our fingertips via the internet is wonderful for new business owners, but it is also a Pandora’s box where it is difficult to identify how to hit a bullseye with our target market when the internet world is so vast. Start with your own network of friends and your own social media channels to begin to get the word out about your product and to test run different online channels.
Getting your website set-up should be a high priority because you can generate direct sales and contact people in your network. Make connections with family and friends who have interest or know of someone with an interest in your product. Selling direct from your website is fairly simple and easy to begin and with little overhead. But be ready just in case your product takes off. You need to have a plan in place for what you will do when an order for 100 units comes in! Also, make sure you have multiple sets of eyes take a look at your website, and if you have the money, hiring a website builder or utilizing your marketing agency to create it will be money WELL spent.
Brick and mortar is great for a reason. Local shops that have loyal customers are a great place to market your product. If you have a connection with a local shop owner, use it. Think about where you have seen like-minded products before. How and where are they marketing their products and generating their sales? Go talk to them, use your pitch and get your foot in the door. Again, with an eagle-eye, examine how your target market does their shopping and where they are doing it. Try to make some sales to direct-users so that you can gain some confidence, get some client reviews, and get important feedback before you start taking your product to other markets.
Now what?
Now the analysis! Once you have your target market and plan of action, it is time to get back to the drawing board and make some plans for the future. Make some predictions and plan for as many “what if’s” as you can think of. Once you get some feedback and reviews, see what needs tweaked, refined, and what just needs built because you are having so much success.
Knowing your target market is a great first step for hitting the business bullseye (achieving ultimate success), and remember that marketing and building your brand will take continuous target practice to get it just right.