Now is the time to for all small business owners to step out of their routine and examine how their customers view their business. It is time for action with an emphasis on marketing, branding and outreach. Here are some simple proven steps to follow to increase visibility and sales in a short time. In this series we will examine five key strategies to getting more sales. The starting point towards improving your bottom line is identifying your target audience.
What does power washing, concrete curbs and pilates have in common? Small business owners come in many varieties, but they can only succeed when they identify their target audience.
Who is your target audience?
If someone was to ask you this question, what would you say? Could you explain your target audience in two, three or four words? Many small business owners fall into the trap of thinking that everyone is a potential customer. This is not true. for more detials:-www.positive-idea.com.The companies that succeed are ones who know who is their target and are focused on creating their business message that reaches them.
Your target audience will be a unique customer base that has specific characteristics. Target audiences can be classified in many ways, here are a few to consider:
- Male or female: Does your product meet the needs of men, women or both?
- Location: Is your product or service targeted to people in a specific state, city or a specific zip code?
- Residential or Commercial: Do you sell to homeowners or other business owners?
- Life Style: Are your potential clients first time home owners, apartment dwellers, new parents, young mothers, college students?
Once you identify your target audience, suddenly the marketing plan becomes a set number of choices, narrowing your efforts to a manageable number. Let’s examine some real case studies involving small business owners and they defined their target audiences.
Case Study – A power wash company in Houston
Power washing is a broad field with many potential customers. We advised the company owner to describe five of his most recent and profitable clients. for visit detials:-www.the-spam-files.com.While he worked on both residential and commercial properties, he determined that commercial propertties were of more interest because they were recurring revenues and more profitable overall. Suddenly commercial properties became the focus as a target audience.
Next we examined the target radius for potential clients. With gas prices biting into profit margins, it made sense to market to nearby zip codes within a 10 mile radius. Using an online search engine, we targeted businesses in those zip codes. We quickly came up with a list of potential business clients. Upon further examination, we determined that property management companies might also be a target audience since many buildings are managed by third parties. So suddenly the target audience was taking shape and the marketing strategy became more clear.
As we prepared the marketing materials. suddenly he had a clear message for a specific target audience. It was easy to create the website and printed materials that spoke to those clients. Focusing on defining the target audience helped save time and energy in overall marketing efforts. Using this data, the client was able to start marketing in a organized manner and build new clientele rapidly.
Case Study: Concrete curbing company
This company specializes in working with prime contractors to build curbing. We advised them to target their marketing efforts to major construction companies and local municipalities. We also suggested they take time to become aware of upcoming capital projects. Their marketing efforts were on a broader regional scale including the Houston metropolitan area, south Texas and even adjoining states. Helping to identify key contractors has focused their marketing efforts and increased profitability since they spend their time on targeted sales calls.
Case Study: Pilates studio
This company offers pilates workouts in a suburban area of Houston. We asked the owner to describe three typical clients. From this information we were able to create three fictional characters that we built marketing profiles around. We identified where they lived, shopped, hobbies and other life interests. In this way our client was able to co-market with other small buisness owners in non-competing areas. We also suggested targeting apartment complexes in key zip codes to reach more people with less effort.
Bottomline: Identifying your target audience and focusing on marekting to those specific characteristics improve sales and profitability.