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Winston Scoville

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Target Marketing
11/21/2005 2:44:07 AM
I have a question about Target Marketing. I'm sure everyone has heard of target marketing but I don't ever recall coming across any information out there on actually how to do it. What are the processes of determining a Target Market and determining if it's a viable market for your products/services?
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Re: Target Marketing
11/21/2005 9:22:45 PM
Winston, Great question. I would love to read the responses to this one. Everyone suggests target marketing, but how do you acquire the "targets"?
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Re: Target Marketing
11/21/2005 9:27:25 PM
Hi Winston; Target marketing (for me) is a classic example of what F. Scott Fitzgerald meant when he talked about "the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." You're right that it's hard to find good information about this, because most people don't really understand it. That and branding, but that's another topic. lol I'll cover the technique, as well as the pros and cons. Then it's open to questions! How to Draw the Target Imagine a target. The kind with 3 rings. In the middle is a very small red circle. Around it is a slightly thicker white ring... and on the outside is a wide blue ring. Okay? The "red" circle represents communication streams that definitely reach your target. The white ring in the middle reaches your target audience plus some other people. The big blue one reached lots of people and might include your target audience. Let's use an example. Let's say you sell sewing patterns or sewing machines. In the red ring would be magazines like SewNews and SewEasy, ezines that go out to sewers, sewing websites, Google adwords specific to sewing, etc.. You KNOW those will reach sewers. Spot on. In the white ring would be women's magazines and women's sites and ezines, as well as craft magazines, etc. Most sewers are women, so you're going to reach women who sew, as well as women who don't. Some crafters are sewers, and some are not. In the blue ring are generic things like your local paper, or a poster in the local grocery store. Anything that reaches mass number of people and a few of them might be interested in what you offer. Is "Inner Circle" Better? There are pros and cons to each methodology. Is "inner circle" better because you're guaranteed to reach your target audience? Not always. For example, a paper like the New York Times or Forbes is definitely a "blue" ring. Totally untargeted. And yet, if your business is mentioned in one - you'll usually see results that NO small, targeted niche publication will ever bring. Of course, on the other hand, if you're paying for ad space, you might prefer the rates of the middle ring to the rates of the inner or outer rings. You'll usually find the rates go up with "targeting" or "numbers" so the middle ring might offer the best bang for your buck if paying. Of course, on the other hand (we entrepreneurs have lots of hands lol) paid ads don't get nearly as good a response as editorial content or a review, so it's better to strive for that type of coverage over a paid ad any day of the week. (Side note; I have never paid for an ad in my LIFE. Coverage is easy to get with a little know how, and when you've done it once, it gets exponentially easier to do each time) The Flaw in the Theory of Targetting I have a great (and slightly humorous) article about targeting on my site. An excerpt; One of the biggest flaws of targeting is that it assumes we all live and shop in a vacuum. Are we all hermits? Do we have no loved ones, family, friends or co-workers who might pass on something we'd like? Or buy it as a gift? Do we never open a flier or email and say "Hey, honey - come look at THIS!" I think you'll enjoy it. Rather than posting the whole thing, you can find it here; http://www.lindacaroll.com/most-ads-suck.html So... there you go. A starting point. Fire away and ask your questions, 'cause I know you have them. lol : ) Linda
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Winston Scoville

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Re: Target Marketing
11/22/2005 7:03:35 AM
Thank you Linda. That actually made sense! Here's another question. When you have a product/service, if it's not apparent to you who your target audience is, what kind of process can you go through to help you make that determination? Or to help refine it? One thing I learned over the years is to never take things for granted. What you may think is obvious may not be. You have to do your research.
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Refining...
11/22/2005 11:01:26 AM
Hi Winston; ========================================== Thank you Linda. That actually made sense! ========================================== You're very welcome! : ) ========================================== Here's another question. When you have a product/service, if it's not apparent to you who your target audience is, what kind of process can you go through to help you make that determination? Or to help refine it? ========================================== A technique that I find helpful is to start by asking; what are the *reasons* people would buy this? Once you have a couple of *reasons* - then you can ask yourself *who* those reasons would apply to. For example, with your cards. I would guess that a couple of the top reasons people buy might be; [a] The convenience and time saving [b] Efficient way for business followup Being in the business, you might agree with those, or you might know "reasons" that are more applicable. Then, I'd look at the reasons and ask myself *who* they describe. The time savings would definitely be appreciated by women that have both families and jobs and are always time pressured. The business followup would be appreciated by business professionals that *would* send follow up correspondance. Then you can ask yourself who that would be. I would think people in high end sales. Realtors, for example. Hosting companies. Design firms. Anyone that would be happy to spend a dollar or two per customer to create good feelings by remembering customer "buy date" anniversaries or even just sending holiday greetings. Once you've identified who you think is a likely target market, then you apply psychographics to figure out the best places to find them. (If you're not familiar with psychographics, or could use a hand with it, let me know.) ========================================== One thing I learned over the years is to never take things for granted. What you may think is obvious may not be. You have to do your research. ========================================== Yup. That's for sure. Often times, we err as to *why* people are buying and have to start from scratch. lol. Here's a personal example. When I first started doing websites, I heavily promoted that my design is browser compatible. I know how rare that is. I didn't bother to show much of a portfolio and I didn't "show off" my results. I focused on the quality of my code. Turned out most people didn't even know what browser compatible meant. Know why they were hiring me? Because my clients have been featured in National Magazines. lol. So, now I show more of my results. That's what brings in business. I explain the code part as the icing on the cake. : ) Linda
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