Think About Marketing

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Usually, the first really good marketing idea you come up with is not truly the best idea that could be developed. Yet I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I've seen very bright and sophisticated business people jump into a quickly conceived idea in a big way, spend a tremendous amount of dollars, only to see an unprofitable return on the investment made. In plain English, don't let yourself buy your own bullshit. Just because you "think" a radio ad could be very effective does not mean it's not going to end up costing you a big chunk of your profits. In fact, I promise that if you have not done your homework, it will loose you money as surely as night will become day.

So you need to think, and think, and then think a little more. I believe common sense and focused thinking have more impact on a marketing plan's success than any other combination of factors. So it is vitally important that a manager or team of managers not allow their emotions and enthusiasm for an idea/concept overwhelm their common sense and the exercise of reasonable caution. This is true whether we're talking about a small Mom & Pop operation or a Fortune 500 company with thousands of employees.

Some Basic First Steps In Your Thought Process

How do you define your primary market? Who buys (if you are already an established business), or who do you believe will buy (if this is a new venture) this product/service if it is presented to them appropriately? I cannot possibly stress this too much. If you have been in business for a while and you've collected just names, addresses, and phone numbers from your customers, you can extrapolate a lot of valuable information from just that data alone.

For example, if you find that the majority of your customers come from a clustered group of zip codes you can obtain demographic data about the people living or businesses operating within those zip codes very easily and inexpensively (if not for free). You can study what percentage of your customers are individual consumers versus those that are businesses or business oriented.

There's an awful lot of information right under your nose if you've even collected the most simple forms of information about your customers and the transactions they make.

If yours is a new venture, then there's is no doubt you have at least an amorphous idea of what your target market is. I think the key at this point is to take that general image of your customer and try to narrow it down; pre-anticipate customer needs and benefits, and as you delve into that marketplace to both test and actively maintain current prospect and customer data. Then review that data at regular intervals and attempt to establish patterns and identify where the bulk of your sales are being made.

Once defined, what would logically be the most effective ways to reach your market?

Every market can be penetrated by a variety of methods. Which method or methods are most cost effective and profitable? Again, this must be preceded by a great deal of thought, especially if you have no previous marketing strategy to use as a baseline.

So think about it. Think about crossover markets. For example, most new video camera buyers are also PC owners. The vast majority of new video cameras are digital, so the ability to download the camera's data into a PC is a very simple process. Therefore, it would make sense that a very user friendly video editing package, or a unique digital video effects package could appeal to new video camera buyers (primary target) and other digital video camera owners (secondary target).

How would you reach the primary target? There are dozens of venues that appeal to new camera owners, from web sites to magazine advertising. Are there e-newsletters that target the new video camera owner? Would it make sense to find one or two that are directed at people new to video editing, or would that be a waste of time and money? Is the budget available to advertise in one of several printed video magazines specifically aimed at consumers. Is it possible that there's an opt-in email newsletter that reaches one of your targets? Or a business-reply post-card deck, or a certain organization's in-house organ? And so on and so forth...

The point being, there are many, many different ways to sell any product or service. Not just any or all of them will work for your particular endeavor, but there is a marketing solution out there, you just have to find it. And it's out there; your ability to resolve the targets and methods before you run out of budget is basically what the marketing game is all about. But I have to assume you wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't already at least thought about some of these concepts in advance. So we're that far ahead of the game.

This free resource is owned and operated by Bill Frazzetto, president & CEO of Web Target Marketing Group, Inc., and Creative Director and Managing Partner of OuterMedia USA. If you would like to contact Mr. Frazzetto directly, you can click on either link and the contact information on either site will assist you, or you can use the email doorway provided on this site under the left border menu.