We have been discussing the value of thoroughly defining your target market and performing an in depth review of YOUR specific target market. The point of course is that without knowing WHO your target market is, your one person, your marketing is going to lose effectiveness. Essentially, you will be flopping around expending energy that probably will not pay off in the types of results you are looking to achieve. Your path to success will be littered with roadblocks and potholes.
How do I know that? Usually, I am hired when the roadblocks and potholes get big.
Last week, I heard from a client who decided to take on developing his target market profile from the beginning. This is a client who has been in business for years making a high profit and is successful. He was struggling with launching a new division in his business. This division is something that he is passionate about and he can see that it will make a difference in the world. And yet he just couldn’t launch his offering or figure out what was stopping him.
My intuition told me that the target market his new offering would serve was not accurately defined. He was trying to market to a target market whose description was no longer relevant to what he was doing now. I challenged him to redefine his target market and also use a focus group to help him with the psychographic specifics. He moved forward, thoroughly re-made the demographics and formed a group to answer specific questions regarding their thoughts and feelings about his new product.
Here is what happened. The report came with this headline: My Project- Good News. He said, “this target audience thing has really shifted me, and the clarity did this: I got a totally unsolicited order for a course offering. I met a woman at a training program (we just happened to have dinner together) and when I told her my reason for developing the new division, she so got it that she wants to work with me—and she is my perfect client. And lastly a couple sent me an email and asked if I did offer my new service and I am having an intro Skype call with them today. Something has really shifted as a result of my knowing exactly what I offer and to whom. I feel like a big boulder just lifted off my shoulders.”
If you are resisting defining your target market and are still mired in a lack of results, think about going the extra mile and make your target market come alive for you. You too could be writing me a headline that says “Good News!”
