Archive for the ‘Ideal Customer’ Category

To be successful in business, you need to know your ideal customer. And I mean really know them. Your success is going to hinge on how well you know and can talk to the needs and desires of that customer. You need to know everything you can about your customer because it makes you a more effective communicator. Knowing your customer’s wants and need lets you talk directly to the customer and target your messages so you can inform them about how you address their needs and desires.

You’ll need to know how to segment your customers because you may need a different strategy for each unique segment. Because each customer segment has different needs, you may need to take different actions or use different tactics for each segment. Also if you have more than one product or service, you will need a unique strategy, actions and measurements for each product or service that you offer. This is because each product or service will be addressing the different needs and desires your customer has.

These are the numerous aspects of the Ideal Customer that are incorporated into your marketing strategy. You will need to know and to define the following items:

• Your  Client Traits, like what are the characteristics of the clients you WANT to be working with.
• You will need to identify your Customer Segments if there are any. Who is your End User, who is the Decision Maker, who are the people who Influence the decision?
• You will need to know the Demographics, Psychographics, Pain, and Dreams of your customer
• You will need to know your Customer Needs and how the need your addressing fits into their other priorities.
• You will need to know how to Prioritize your marketing tactics and promotions based on your customer’s needs and behaviors.
• You will need to know how to Identify the best ways to talk to your customer
• You will need to know how to Identify the most cost effective means to communicate with your customer
• You will need to Know when your customer needs what you offer
• You will need to know how to Engage your customer so they keep coming back

Here’s a chart I use to collect some of this information.

Once you learn this information about your customer, you will need to take it and use it to define your Positioning and the 5 P’s of marketing which includes the following items:

1. Your Positioning which means how do you fit into the overall marketplace and compare to other solutions available. Your Positioning Statement is used to clarify you comparative differentiator. Next, your Elevator Pitch is used to help you converse about your company’s solution in a way that is concise and gets your main differentiators and solutions across to your customer and potential partners. Your Unique Selling Proposition is your tagline and is a short phrase that summarizes what makes your solution unique. Your Brand should be defined in a way that supports your positioning while appealing to the desires and dreams of your customer. Your messaging is critical to the success of all communications that you send out. You will need to know how to define your company’s messages, your benefits and how the features support those messages and benefits.
2. Your Product which means how are you going to design your products or services so that they meet the needs of your customer.
3. Your Distribution (Place) will be selected based on where your customer shops and their purchase behavior.
4. Your Promotions should be prioritized in order of the ones that are most effective in reaching your target customer.
5. Your People or staff should be selected to be the best fit for delivering the needs of your customer.
6. Your Price needs to take into account what your customer is willing to pay for your services.

This knowledge about your ideal customer is fundamental to everything you do in your business. It is critical that you take the time up front to learn everything you can about your customer and how you can best meet their needs. From here you will take this knowledge and apply it to the 5 P’s of Marketing and create a marketing strategy and plan.

Give that “Feel Good” feeling with your marketing

I recently began attending church. I’m not gonna get all religious on anyone. But it’s taken me about 20 years to WANT to go to church. Why? Because I finally found one that relates to me as a customer. I am the ideal customer for this church. Why do I say that? Because they talk to my needs, wants and desires. They have me down to a “t”.

It’s only taken me 45 years to understand why other people go to church…because it makes them feel good. That’s it. It’s that simple. It just took me that long to get my butt to the right church.

But there something more I want to talk about. It’s about that “Feel Good” feeling. This church isn’t the only place I’ve felt it. People get that same “Feel Good” feeling from Oprah. She just makes us all feel good about ourselves. She makes the mediocrity of our lives somehow become special. She transforms us and our lives with that “Feel Good” feeling, if only for the moment.

Recently, a friend of mine went to a business conference and shared her experience with me. What fascinated me most was how impressed she was that one of the billionaire speakers treated her with respect, consideration and sincerity. That billionaire made my friend feel good, important and respected. She transferred the “Feel Good” feeling to her.

The overriding take away I got from her experience, was how much time and detail was spent on making her and the other attendees feel good. And now my friend was spreading that “Feel Good” feeling to me.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we all spent our time giving each other sincere consideration, respect and that “Feel Good” feeling?

What makes an ordinary business stand out from the pack? I bet if you spread some of that “Feel Good” feeling around you’ll see a meteoric rise in business. Isn’t this what the Law of Attraction is about anyway? Send that “Feel Good” feeling out to others and they will send it back. And, isn’t that what the bible says? Do unto others as you want them to do unto you. OK, I’m a little rusty on my bible quotes, by I still “got that loving feeling”.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist

Black Friday and Retail Marketing

Most people think that Black Friday is the hugest shopping day of the year. And, well, it may be if you are one of the large national retail chains that has a big budget to promote large loss leading discounts to hundreds of thousands of people. But, if you are a small local retail shop, it’s one of the quietest days of the year. Why? because everyone is out at the mall, chasing the deal. The consumer doesn’t actually get around to shopping local, until the last week or two of the month.

How do you compete?

As a small business owner, you DON’T! At least not head-on. So instead of going after the Black-Friday shopper, try an alternative.

There are a lot of customers that don’t like the crowds and rush of mall shopping. Send email or a personal invitation to your best customers and invite them for a private shopping event. Or, host a customer appreciation holiday event. Offer hot cider, hot cocoa and holiday cookies while they shop.

How do you add value to their shopping experience? What can you offer that the big chains can’t? Personalized service for one. A flexible and intimate shopping experience is another. Focus on your strengths and add a holiday twist.

Always go back and evaluate what your customer wants. Why do they shop with you? Focus on the customer and giving them the ultimate shopping experience.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you.

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How do I write a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy is a process that enables you to optimize your resources (time, money, people, etc) and focus them on the best way to generate sales and achieve a sustainable advantage. An effective marketing strategy defines how you will attract prospects, engage customers and overcome competitors.

The marketing strategy is the underpinnings of the marketing plan which includes the tactics used to implement the strategy. The strategy is dynamic and interactive. It can change and evolve in real time based on changes in the company goals, competitor actions, or customer responses.

In a corporation, there is typically someone responsible for overseeing the entire marketing strategy for a product or business unit. There are then sub-groups responsible for a given tactical area such as advertising, distribution channels, internet and public relations. Each of these specialists then develops the detailed tactical plans for their area of expertise.

In a small business, it is usually the owner or maybe one marketing person responsible for the entire marketing strategy and implementation. As you can image, this gets very overwhelming. How do you begin?

The marketing strategy is where you define who your customers are (the customer segments), which ones you want to work with (your target), and the benefits you have to offer them (the positioning). As a small business owner, you want to identify the target customer that brings you the most joy and personal fulfillment to work with. That’s why you are in business for yourself, right? Don’t you want to be happy, have freedom and control your destiny? If so, you need to find the customer that is the best match for you and then talk directly to them.

Customer Segmentation

Customer Segmentation is when you divide the market into discrete customer groups that share similar traits. There are four basic ways to segment the market. They are based on psychographic, demographic, geographic or physiographic data. When you segment your customers, you want the division to be meaningful and measurable.

The Target Customer

Now that you know all you can about your customers, you need to identify which of these segments you are going to target. To do this, you will need to determine the profit potential of each segment by analyzing the potential revenue vs. costs of selling to that customer. As an entrepreneur, your costs also entail your time, effort and personal fulfillment. Which segments are easier for you personally to work with? Which ones will bring you the greatest joy? Profitability isn’t always measured in dollars.

Positioning

Positioning is the perception your customer has of you, your company or your product/service in relation to their perceptions of your direct competitors.

To effectively position your product or service, you need to know what makes your customer tick. What problems do they have that you can solve? How can you/your product help them better than anyone else? What makes your solution uniquely better than anyone else’s? Be sure to tweak your product/service and pricing to best meet the needs of your customer.

Now that you know who you are going to talk to and what you are going to say, you need to move to the next step in your planning process. The next step would be to clarify how you are going to deliver your message and where. This leads you out of the strategy phase and into the tactical phase of your marketing plan.