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As you move into the new year, you and your company can benefit from a thorough review of your target markets.
Even if you are not in marketing, sales or PR, you still have target audiences.
Who do you present ideas to? Do you have to meet the needs of internal customers?
Clearly decide who you want to reach and influence. Then, drill down into each of those market segments as much as possible. Otherwise, your target audiences will be too broadly defined:
“We need to market to parents so they send their kids to our school.”
“Physicians refer us most of our patients.”
“Our goal is to reach women aged 25-54.”
Women 25 to 30 years old think and act differently than women 50 to 55 years old. Primary care and specialty physicians practice as sole practitioners and in small and large groups. Parents come in different sizes, shapes and mindsets.
Further segmenting each target audience allows you to tailor your message to the market, resulting in more effective marketing of your idea, product or service.
Next, prioritize to effectively allocate resources. Segment clients and prospects into A, B and C categories based on their potential impact. While it sounds easy enough, most companies do not realistically assess client and prospect potential. In some cases, A prospects should actually be in the B or C categories and vice versa.
As counterintuitive as it may seem, you also need to purge your list of “fake maybes” who might never result in a sale. Moving on to a real lead is much more productive because fake maybes take an emotional toll and consume valuable marketing resources.
Segment and prioritize clients and prospects. Make more realistic projections. Say goodbye to those fake maybes.
Invest the time now and you’ll have a much happier new year.
David M. Mastovich is president of MASSolutions, an integrated marketing firm focused on improving the bottom line for clients through creative selling, messaging and PR solutions. He’s also author of “Get Where You Want To Go: How to Achieve Personal and Professional Growth Through Marketing, Selling and Story Telling.” For more information, go to lightreading@massolutions.biz.
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