Who Does Your Marketing Target – Bob or Bubba?

Who do you want to listen to? Your clients? Other professionals in your area of expertise? Vendors and colleagues? All of the above, you say – well, fine. However, there should be a primary focus when you’re just getting started. The adage “you can’t be all things to all people or you’ll end up being nothing to no one” rings true, unless you have a staff and a budget of thousands. Just like a magnifying glass concentrates the light into a pinpoint beam. When the heat builds enough to catch fire – the fire spreads. The same with your marketing efforts. Target your initial efforts where it makes the most sense. Concentrate your resources for the biggest impact – and then let it spread. Starting the other way around with limited resources will only dilute results.

What has been easier for clients in defining an initial ‘ideal’ client is to create a character, as in a book or movie. Describe, in detail, the best of all characteristics of your ideal targeted market. Where do they live, what kind of house, what is their work, the car they drive, the types of restaurants they frequent, books they read, music they like, pets they have, schools they attended, dreams they have… What color hair, how much do they weigh? What is their name? This, of course, is fiction – to an extent, but it does a couple of things for you. 1) It gets you thinking about your market in ways other than using your product /service and 2) It helps to put a face to an otherwise generalized group description.

My ideal client is Bob. He and his wife live and work in the greater Portland area, drives a Prius or Hylander, either doesn’t have children or they’re grown, he owns his own business or runs a non-profit and has 5 to 50 employees. Giving back to the community is important and he chooses the causes carefully. He’s a member of the Chamber, not because he gets a lot out of it, but he feels a bit obligated.

He’s very comfortable with technology and using the computer. He does his own research for business, restaurants, movies, purchases, etc. He has a Blackberry and is considering an iPhone when his contract comes due. He’s on FB, sort of. His wife encouraged him because of all the old friends she’s reconnected with. He is on there once or twice a month, maybe – checking things. He set up a Twitter account last summer, but hasn’t been back, not because he doesn’t think it’s important but because it’s overwhelming and he’s not sure what to do with it.. He enjoys the outdoors although isn’t an endurance nut – perhaps skiing in the winter, boating in the summer – not much of a golfer. He works out – running primarily because it’s fast and uncomplicated. He goes into the gym from time to time, but isn’t a gym rat or a muscle man… and so on.

Bob and his business has a good reputation in the field and therefore has never had to put a lot of effort / resources into marketing in the past. New technology, competition and the economy have changed this equation.

What does this do for me? With this description I can better determine where to spend my time. I won’t likely allocate my resources to sponsoring a Chamber event, golf tournament or Iron Man contest – because Bob won’t be there. If I’m on the committee to help organize the big gun show coming to town, Bob is probably not going to be on my A-list for sponsorship opportunities. He would, however get a call if the event were simple ways to increase efficiency through alternative energy or new technology.

From an online perspective, If Bob is my target market, I probably won’t invest a lot of my resources on Twitter or Facebook – although I DO want a presence- because his wife is there. I’ll spend most of my online resources on review sites and blogs and other venues mentioning my product – making sure I know what’s out there and being present, because Bob is looking before making his buying decision. We’ll get more into the “Where is Bob online” in a future post.

Does that mean none of your prospects or clients chew tobacco or drive a Chevy pickup? Of course not, but once Bob and his friends know about you, word will spread to Bubba.

In yesterday’s post we talked about the 4-W’s of targeting your social media audience. Today I’ll start to break the W’s down.

Who do you want to connect with?
Your clients? Other professionals in your area of expertise? Vendors and colleagues?

All of the above, you say – well, fine. However, there should be a primary focus when you’re just getting started. The adage “you can’t be all things to all people or you’ll end up being nothing to no one” rings true, unless you have a staff and a budget of thousands. Just like a magnifying glass concentrates the light into a pinpoint beam. When the heat builds enough to catch fire – the fire spreads. The same with your marketing efforts. Target your initial efforts where it makes the most sense. Concentrate your resources for the biggest impact – and then let it spread. Starting the other way around with limited resources will only dilute results.

Bob

To make it easier for clients to define their ‘ideal’ person I ask them to create a character, as in a book or movie. Describe, in detail, a person that embodies the best of all characteristics of this ideal targeted individual. Is it a client or a competitor? Where do they live, what kind of house, what is their work, the car they drive, the types of restaurants they frequent, books they read, music they like, pets they have, schools they attended, dreams they have… What color hair, how much do they weigh? What is their name? This, of course, is fiction – to an extent, but it does a couple of things for you.

It gets you thinking about your market in ways other than using your product /service and
It helps to put a face to an otherwise generalized group description.

One of my ideal ‘targets’ for social media is my client, “Bob”. He and his wife live and work in the greater Portland area, drive a Prius or Hylander, either doesn’t have children or they’re grown, he owns his own business or runs a non-profit and has 5 to 50 employees. Giving back to the community is important and he chooses the causes carefully. He’s a member of the Chamber, not because he participates actively, he feels like he “should”.

He’s very comfortable with technology and using the computer but he’s not a geek. He does his own research for business, restaurants, movies, purchases, etc. He has a Blackberry and is considering an iPhone when his contract comes due. He’s on Facebook, sort of. His wife encouraged him because of all the old friends she’s reconnected with. He is on there once or twice a month, maybe – checking things. He set up a Twitter account last summer, but hasn’t been back, not because he doesn’t think it’s important but because it’s overwhelming and he’s not sure what to do with it.. He enjoys the outdoors although isn’t an endurance nut – perhaps skiing in the winter, boating in the summer – not much of a golfer. He works out – running primarily because it’s fast and uncomplicated. He goes into the gym from time to time, but isn’t a gym rat or a muscle man… and so on.

Bob and his business have a good reputation in the community and industry and therefore he has never had to put a lot of effort / resources into marketing in the past. New technology, competition and the economy have changed this equation.

What does this do for me? With this description I can better determine where to spend my time. I won’t likely allocate my resources to sponsoring a Chamber event, golf tournament or Iron Man contest – because Bob won’t be there. If I’m on the committee to help organize the big gun show coming to town, Bob is probably not going to be on my A-list for sponsorship opportunities. He would, however get a call if the event were simple ways to increase efficiency through alternative energy or new technology.

Bubba

From an online perspective, if Bob is my target market, I probably won’t invest a lot of my resources on Twitter or Facebook – although I DO want a presence- because his wife is there. I’ll spend most of my online resources on review sites and blogs and other venues mentioning my product – making sure I know what’s out there and being present, because Bob is looking before making his buying decision. We’ll get more into the “Where is Bob online” in a future post.

Does that mean none of your prospects or clients chew tobacco or drive a Chevy pickup? Of course not, but once Bob and his friends know about you, word will spread to Bubba.