What is targeted marketing?



Targeted marketing is, according to the text books, "the

process of distinguishing the different groups that make up

a market, and developing appropriate products and marketing

mixes for each target market involved."

One of the curses of today's technology-driven advertising

media (and that includes the Internet) is that it is

relatively easy to blanket very wide sectors of the

population with your promotional message, in the hope that

some of the flying bullets will find their mark.

This is not only wasteful of your resources (and other

people's), but it can also work against your image. Probably

well over half of the 'direct' mail sent out today deserves

the title 'junk' mail, because that's precisely what it is.

Why is it junk?

* It doesn't reach the right people - people who are genuine

prospects

* It doesn't communicate well - it makes it difficult for

the reader to absorb the message

* It's incorrectly addressed (which infuriates most people)

* It doesn't attempt to address the real needs of the reader

It's a bit like the old way of shooting down an enemy

aircraft. When the target is sighted, round after round of

air-burst high explosive is shot in the general direction of

the target in the hopes that some of it will explode close

enough to do fatal damage.

The guided missile

Today's anti-aircraft attack method is far more effective.

Just one heat-seeking ground-to-air missile is released,

which homes accurately in on its target.

That's what targeted marketing is all about. Recruitment

agencies say that the ideal job advert will attract just one

applicant, and that will be the perfect candidate for the

job. Ideally, that is what all advertising should aim for.

That's clearly impractical, but your advertising and

promotion should be moving in that direction.

Unless you are targeting just one specific prospect (and

there are occasions when you could be doing just that),

practical targeted marketing could, perhaps be more

accurately described as...

...Batch targeting

This is where you break your overall target market down into

manageable segments - such as one specific industry, or a

geographical area, or a demographic profile. The segments

should not just be ones which are convenient to you, but

ones which allow you to direct, to one specific target

market, promotional messages which:

* Are highly relevant to the prospects in that sector

* Convince them that you are a specialist in their own

activity / interest area

* Show them that you can meet their own specific needs.

If, for example, you sell office equipment or consumables,

you obviously have a vast market - almost every type of

business. But, instead of sending out thousands of mailings

to every type of business, pick out, say, stone quarries (to

pick an unusual example!) You could focus on dust covers for

equipment and the more rugged end of office equipment

ranges.

You can demonstrate that you understand the needs of the

quarrying industry. If you've got a few customers in that

type of industry, you will already understand their

requirements. If not, pick up the phone and without trying

to sell, do a little market research amongst two or three

prospects in that sector.

By showing that you are a specialist supplier, you'll stand

out from all your other 'me too' competitors. This must be a

significant competitive advantage. We know of an insurance

broker who was just your average broker until he started to

focus on selling insurance to dentists. Within two years, he

was the UK's leading broker to the dental profession.

To summarise, the advantages of targeted marketing are:

* Your attention is focused on one specific market area,

which is likely to result in your marketing campaigns being

far more cost- and time-efficient.

* You appear to be a specialist in the prospective

customer's own field, and you can increasingly build up a

reputation as being just that.

* Your promotion material is highly relevant to their needs,

and is less likely to be junked

* You stand out from your competitors

* By differentiating yourself from your competitors,

prospective customers are less likely to focus on price as

the key issue, thus enhancing your profit margins

In Targeted Marketing: Part 2, I describe a highly practical

step-by-step plan on how to implement a targeted marketing

campaign.