Narrow Your Focus
and Broaden Your Sales
-- by Dr Michel Fortin
-- http://www.redtienda.com/english/newsletter107.htm#1If your web-based
business solves a specific problem, then your
chances of online success are good. This is not a
facetious statement because you'd be surprised to
know how many businesses go online with no clear
objective whatsoever. But in order to increase
those chances, an immensely important step in
marketing effectively online is required --
targeting.
This is
where many marketers fail, for they are trying to
be "all things to all people." Their
web site may offer a product that solves a
specific problem. And unquestionably, the
marketplace -- and the potential -- on the
Internet is huge. But it is also for this very
reason that general offers either get easily
drowned in this boundless electronic ocean or
fail to capture the netizen's attention due to
the vagueness of the offering's nature.
Since the
marketplace is so vast, attention span so short
and competition so enormous, there is no better
place for market targeting than on the Internet.
Today's rapidly changing, technology-driven
marketplace mandates a sharper marketing aim. If
your business doesn't have one, you're going to
either have a really tough time or require a huge
marketing budget.
Therefore,
try to discover the demographics as well as the
psychographics of your niche -- your niche being
your core, largest or most profitable market. If
you don't have a narrowly defined market, then
identify it or isolate one. And once you've
defined it, it will then be easier for you to
market your offer in front of an audience that
will most likely be genuinely interested in it.
Otherwise, without one you'll be merely shooting
blanks.
Demographics
are the basic qualities and characteristics of
your market. They include age, gender, culture,
employment, industry, income level, marital
status, location and so on. For example, does
your product cater uniquely to women? Is it more
appealing to a specific industry? Does your
product complement another type of product? Is
your market mostly made up of French Canadians?
In other words, who buys from you specifically?
If you
were to answer that last question with
"everyone," then you are falling in the
"all things to all people" trap
mentioned earlier. Avoid it as much as you can.
But if you do cater to a diverse market, then the
trick is to find out who buys from you the most
or the most often. Above all, ask yourself this
all-important question: Who is my perfect
customer?
On the
other hand, psychographics consist of the
emotional and behavioural qualities of your
target market. They include emotions, rationales,
buying histories, psychology and thought
processes behind the decision to buy your
product. For example, they include your
customers' interests, associations to which they
belong, previous purchases they've made, other
similar or related products they've consumed,
activities in which they're engaged, the length
of time they remained with a particular company
in the past, and so on.
Stated
differently, demographics define the qualities of
those people who may *need* your product, while
psychographics are the qualities of those who may
not only need but also *want* your product.
Before you target your market, profile your
customer -- your perfect customer. You can start
by conducting some marketing research among your
current client base, potential clients and
clients of other similar products or companies.
But never underestimate the gold mine that can be
found in your own backyard -- your clients.
In order
to illustrate the difference between demographics
and psychographics, let's look at cosmetic
surgeons and particularly hair transplant
doctors. Hair restoration caters typically to men
who have experienced hair loss and are able to
afford such an operation. In other words, men and
bald men specifically are potential patients
because they may need more hair.
But
psychographics on the other hand go a little
further. In this example, they are comprised of
men who not only need more hair but also want
more hair. This is important since not all of
them do -- it's a matter of personal priorities,
just as the type of clothing one chooses to wear.
If you think about it, would you consider all
bald men as potential clients? Hopefully not.
Therefore,
in order to target this specific market as
precisely as possible and thus generate higher
quality leads, doctors must take their patients'
psychographic profile into account. Elements
include their lifestyle, their interests, the
type of industry in which they work (since
certain industries are more image-related) as
well as their previous buying habits (such as men
who have already invested in other forms of hair
replacement solutions).
Once
done, they can easily find places on the web
where this perfect customer hangs out. They fish
where the fish swim. For example, there are web
sites and even "vortals," which are
niche-based portals, catering to bald men seeking
a hair loss solution (like regrowth.com). There
are even discussion lists and ezines whose
subscribers consist of people suffering from
thinning hair. And of course, the list goes on.
Nevertheless,
keep in mind that less is more. Narrow your focus
to a specific niche and, paradoxically, you will
broaden your sales. Arm yourself with as much
information as possible about your perfect
customer, and then target *that* customer more
than any other. While you can't be everything to
everyone, you shouldn't be targeting everyone for
everything.
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