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Ideas4Rent
Marketing
Identifying
And Reaching Your Target Market
by
Don MacLeod - 4/19/08
Identifying the
people in your target market is one of the most basic and most important
aspects of becoming a successful marketer. While many people may understand
the concept, there are a surprising number who never implement it. And
unless you do, you probably will never become very successful in your
marketing efforts.
For example, if you're someone who’s looking for a new
car, then you’ll probably pay more attention to all of the radio and TV
commercials and newspaper ads for cars. But if you're not in the market for
a new car, you’ll probably “tune out” those exact same ads. They’re
still there, but because they are not in line with your interests, you just
don’t notice them. Your ads will
only be effective to the extent that they match your potential clients’
interests.
This is why it's inevitable that regardless of what medium you
advertisement in, there will always be a certain percentage of people who,
although they may see it or hear it, are not viable prospects for
whatever you're selling. Your target market should consist of people who not only need your
product or service, but also have the wherewithal to pay for it. So
you need to be certain that your message is directed toward and targeted
only to those who are qualified prospects.
Up to this point
we’ve been discussing offline advertising. Does the Internet have this
same requirement? The principles are the same so the answer is a resounding yes!
Although the Internet is worldwide and spans most of the globe, it is
probably more important to find and then focus on your target market there
than in any other medium.
However,
while the principles are the same, the type of audience is vastly different.
Unlike offline marketing, most of the online venues where you might
advertise are not able to offer detailed demographics of their visitors or
readers. While several companies are working hard to gather this kind of
information, they are often frustrated in their efforts due to the fact that
most people do not want to give out personal information on the web.
So without this
kind of data, you’re going to have to use some common sense. You
need to find out exactly whom it is that buys what you’re selling and then
talk only to those people. So,
with that in mind, you should start identifying a few websites where you can
place an ad, or search for a newsletter that attempts to cater to your
potential client base.
Once you’ve found
a few places to include your ad, you need to figure out how to measure and
track your results. And often it’s at this point that many people who
claim to be marketers drop the ball. If you don’t know the reason behind
the results you’re getting, then you won’t know what you need to do to
improve those results. When it comes to online marketing, there are several
ways to track where your leads are coming from. One of the easiest methods
is to use an email address that is unique to that ad. If you have your own
domain, usually you will have unlimited aliases that all point to the same
email address. If that isn’t an option, then you could always use free
email addresses.
Another suggestion
is to use the web in your tracking endeavors. For instance, you could create
a unique form, which sends you an email for each ad someone responds to. You
could include a keyword that the visitor will never see in the form that
pinpoints exactly where your prospect saw the ad.
You should also
consider using Newsletters. The fact is that if a newsletter has been in
existence for at least a couple of years, and also has a good-sized
subscriber base, then they must be doing something right. So, if your ad is
not pulling, you are either in the wrong target market, or you have a poorly
written ad. If the latter is the case, then here’s the best way to solve
the problem. You need to identify what you’re selling and who will
buy it, and then, in your ad copy, only talk to those people. Pinpoint your
message. Pick out your prospects. Talk to them individually. And forget
everyone else.
A final suggestion
is to incorporate online tracking software in your advertising campaigns.
Many good autoresponder services offer this feature, and you can also
purchase software for this purpose. By creating a tracking link for each of
your ad campaigns, you can review the tracking reports and get a true
picture of how effective your ads and your ad campaigns are, as well as
being able to pinpoint what is working—and what isn’t.
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