Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences
Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences
Maybe you’ve had to do this recently. Hopefully, if you own your own business, it’s been awhile. Either way, there’s a terrific marketing lesson to be learned. Just take your mind back to your resume-writing days and answer the following question...
What is one of the most important rules of writing resumes and cover letters?
It’s not a design rule.
Or a rule about how you organize your content, though it does have to do with your content.
It’s that you should always do a little research on the prospective employer. Then tailor your resume and cover letter to that particular job and company.
And why should you do this? Because what they really want to know is what you can do for them.
After all, no two jobs are alike. And no two employers have exactly the same set of needs when it comes to hiring.
So you want to make sure your resume speaks to them in a way that shows you are the best candidate to fill their needs or solve their problems.
Seems logical enough, right?
Well, the same thing holds true when it comes to your marketing.
Whether you’re looking for a job or trying to find customers, you are engaging in a sales and marketing presentation. The only difference is, when you’re job hunting, the potential employer is the customer.
Yet even though we all know you have to tailor your resume to each position, most small business owners don’t even consider tweaking their marketing to suit different audiences.
Instead, they try to save money by creating one-size-fits-all marketing. But if you try to speak to everyone, your message is too generic so you end up connecting with no one, and wasting more money in the end.
This doesn’t mean you can’t sell to more than one target market. Or use many of the same basic messages. It just means that, like a resume, you need to tailor your marketing to each audience.
How do you do this? The same way you would if you were reworking your resume for a new job:
1) Create a framework. Get the basics of your products or services down on paper.
2) List all the benefits. Don’t just write down the features of what you’re offering (size, shape, color, time, price, amps, volts, extras, etc.). People need to know why they should want or need those features.
3) Do your research. You have to know the person you’re selling to, and their wants, needs or problems, if you’re going to convince them you have what they’re looking for.
4) Profile your markets. For each market you want to sell to, write out a detailed profile of who the ideal customer would be including age, sex, religion, job, salary, education, political leanings, family, shopping and reading preferences etc.
5) Make a list of what’s most important to them. This might be time with the family, keeping up with Joneses, making a lot of money, investing wisely, paying the bills, saving money, having fun, whatever. You have to know what they’re thinking if you want to connect and communicate with them effectively.
6) Understand what worries them most. Everyone has a different set of worries and concerns in life—and when making a purchase. Often the two are intertwined. By knowing what they’re most concerned about you can ease their fears.
7) Speak their language. We all like to feel like someone else gets us…And that’s especially true when it comes to buying products or services. Prospects want to sense that you understand what’s bugging them and know where they’re coming from.
So come across in print like a helpful friend offering them the best advice or solutions for their particular wants, needs or problems—not an impersonal business selling stuff.
8) Push the pain button. If you know who you’re selling to, you know the problem you can solve for them. So talk about that pain or problem, then position your products or services as the pain-relief.
Remember, the most effective marketing and sales pieces have very little about you, your business, your products or your services. Instead, they’re focused on your prospects and how you can solve their problems, fill their needs, or fulfill their wants and dreams.
Just like a prospective employer, prospects want to know more about what you can do for them (proven results, guarantees, benefits, etc.), and less about you, what you can do or how you do it. Make that connection and you’ll be well on your way to making more sales.
Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences - To learn more about this author, visit Stacy Karacostas's Website.
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Do you remember writing your resume and cover letters?
Maybe you’ve had to do this recently. Hopefully, if you own your own business, it’s been awhile. Either way, there’s a terrific marketing lesson to be learned. Just take your mind back to your resume-writing days and answer the following question...
What is one of the most important rules of writing resumes and cover letters?
It’s not a design rule.
Or a rule about how you organize your content, though it does have to do with your content.
It’s that you should always do a little research on the prospective employer. Then tailor your resume and cover letter to that particular job and company.
And why should you do this? Because what they really want to know is what you can do for them.
After all, no two jobs are alike. And no two employers have exactly the same set of needs when it comes to hiring.
So you want to make sure your resume speaks to them in a way that shows you are the best candidate to fill their needs or solve their problems.
Seems logical enough, right?
Well, the same thing holds true when it comes to your marketing.
Whether you’re looking for a job or trying to find customers, you are engaging in a sales and marketing presentation. The only difference is, when you’re job hunting, the potential employer is the customer.
Yet even though we all know you have to tailor your resume to each position, most small business owners don’t even consider tweaking their marketing to suit different audiences.
Instead, they try to save money by creating one-size-fits-all marketing. But if you try to speak to everyone, your message is too generic so you end up connecting with no one, and wasting more money in the end.
This doesn’t mean you can’t sell to more than one target market. Or use many of the same basic messages. It just means that, like a resume, you need to tailor your marketing to each audience.
How do you do this? The same way you would if you were reworking your resume for a new job:
1) Create a framework. Get the basics of your products or services down on paper.
2) List all the benefits. Don’t just write down the features of what you’re offering (size, shape, color, time, price, amps, volts, extras, etc.). People need to know why they should want or need those features.
3) Do your research. You have to know the person you’re selling to, and their wants, needs or problems, if you’re going to convince them you have what they’re looking for.
4) Profile your markets. For each market you want to sell to, write out a detailed profile of who the ideal customer would be including age, sex, religion, job, salary, education, political leanings, family, shopping and reading preferences etc.
5) Make a list of what’s most important to them. This might be time with the family, keeping up with Joneses, making a lot of money, investing wisely, paying the bills, saving money, having fun, whatever. You have to know what they’re thinking if you want to connect and communicate with them effectively.
6) Understand what worries them most. Everyone has a different set of worries and concerns in life—and when making a purchase. Often the two are intertwined. By knowing what they’re most concerned about you can ease their fears.
7) Speak their language. We all like to feel like someone else gets us…And that’s especially true when it comes to buying products or services. Prospects want to sense that you understand what’s bugging them and know where they’re coming from.
So come across in print like a helpful friend offering them the best advice or solutions for their particular wants, needs or problems—not an impersonal business selling stuff.
8) Push the pain button. If you know who you’re selling to, you know the problem you can solve for them. So talk about that pain or problem, then position your products or services as the pain-relief.
Remember, the most effective marketing and sales pieces have very little about you, your business, your products or your services. Instead, they’re focused on your prospects and how you can solve their problems, fill their needs, or fulfill their wants and dreams.
Just like a prospective employer, prospects want to know more about what you can do for them (proven results, guarantees, benefits, etc.), and less about you, what you can do or how you do it. Make that connection and you’ll be well on your way to making more sales.
Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences - To learn more about this author, visit Stacy Karacostas's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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