Target Marketing: How Your Input Affects Your Output

In managed services, there are a lot of variables to consider. Since we all work with technology all the time, the perception people have of our business is that we are the “computer guys”. If this is the reality for your MSP, marketing to specific clients with solutions that you deliver well, might be a solution to help your company beat that stereotype. Ultimately, it’s your job to let people know that your company’s offering presents more than just computer repair, it presents value.

When you are creating your company’s marketing strategy, you need to consider what questions make the most sense. Have you considered what makes up your current marketing strategy? What, and who, make it work (or fail)? How does the information you capture affect the way, or to whom, you build your strategy with your limited marketing dollars? These questions, among others, should be considered before you start building out a marketing plan. By targeting specific clients, you’ll ultimately reap a reward commensurate with the efforts you put forth.

If marketing fuels your business, what fuels your marketing? How do you know where to direct your marketing efforts? What strategies should you use to get the best return out of your marketing budget? Consider the implementation of a target marketing strategy to improve your chances of successfully in marketing your product or service.

What is Target Marketing and Why Use It?

We can define target marketing as the act of marketing products and services to specific audiences that are either known to be a source of sales, or to audiences who have a tendency to find interest in a product or service like the one you offer. Taking those statistics into consideration, you can then develop marketing campaigns aimed directly at these target markets to maximize potential sales and lead generation.

Would you try to sell diapers to a teenager? Meat to a vegetarian? What about car insurance to a six-year-old? The fact is that selling a service or product to someone who has no use for it becomes a waste of everyone's time. So why try? If you don’t consider the boundaries you have selling to a market, there’s a chance you are aiming at the wrong target!

Equally as troubling for your sales team is when you don’t target anyone at all. This concept may not apply to everyone (organizations like coffee shops, shoe stores, pizza parlors, or other businesses whose product is wanted/needed by the general public), but for business-to-business marketing strategies, it is paramount to define a target market and not waste your resources by applying a blanket marketing strategy. Would you try to selling your VoIP solution on Cartoon Network or offer a free network consultation at Chuck E. Cheese? Your specialized products and services are needed by specific clients in specific markets. Targeting those will maximize the success of your marketing investment?

Targeting your marketing efforts generally results in better opportunities, and often a-list clients who stay with your company longer, spend more money, give your company referrals, and, ultimately, provide you with more value than a steady stream of revenue. Every small business could more of that. Let’s take a look at how to get started.

Defining Your Target

Before your business launches a campaign or any kind of marketing initiative, it’s important to have a target market in mind. You’ll want to pinpoint demographic specifications for businesses that are most likely to purchase your product. The answer to these questions will help you clearly define who your ideal customer is. Here are some queries to consider:

• What are the needs that I’m fulfilling with my products and services?
• Who needs what I have?
• Where are they located?
• What are their revenue levels?
• What business verticals can I target?

Using an analytics tool will further help you identify a strong target market. If you are set up with a Google Analytics system, you’ll be able to identify who your Internet prospects are, how they found your site, what services they are interested in, and more.

If you have already launched a marketing campaign and haven’t pre-defined a target market, it’s not too late! Analyzing your current customer base will help your targeting efforts. By considering the commonalities of your current clients you’ll be able to identify the “ideal client”. This will allow you to target with your marketing efforts toward businesses and customers with similar profiles.

For example, if your company sells a Backup and Disaster Recovery solution, consider marketing this service to businesses that share common traits with your current clients. You may determine that your most popular BDR demographic is small medical businesses within a 30-mile radius with revenue levels at or around $500,000/yr. The more details you are privy to about who purchases your business the more thorough you can be identifying potential customers. If you need help in this process, a simple customer satisfaction survey would go a long way in helping to identify your key demographics, and help you serve your current client base better.

Fire Away!

Once you’ve identified your target market, it’s time to buckle down and do some marketing. After defining your target, you can rest assured that your marketing efforts are, at the very least, being noticed by prospects. This consideration is all you need. Handing off a legitimately interested oppurtunity to your sales team makes their job a lot easier. In the previous example we defined our ideal BDR client as small local medical businesses. If these companies are most likely to buy your product, find more! If you run out of leads that meet this description, try expanding the distance radius, revenue level, business size, or any other parameters to give you more targets.

If you want quality marketing output that leads to sales for your company, be sure to feed it quality marketing input by targeting your marketing efforts. JoomConnect can help you build marketing campaigns complete with Internet and print resources to launch toward your target. For more information on how to target a specific market, or how to receive custom campaigns for your marketing efforts, give us a call today toll-free at 888.546.4384.