Nailing your target market

To ensure you get the best return on your marketing investments, take some time to understand your audience. By targeting specific people with specific messages, you’ll hit the nail on the head every time!

Remember the scene from Minority Report, where Tom Cruise enters a shopping mall and is spoken to by advertising billboards? Identity recognition devices scan the retina of approaching people and access databases full of their preferences. The billboards then address passers-by with advertising messages specifically tailored to their needs and wants.

Marketers have touted the power of targeted direct marketing for decades and paraded examples of successful campaigns, which have gone straight to the right person, at precisely the right time. Of course, they located those most likely to need their clients’ services in advance.

For example, a colleague determined that just 15 companies in his area could be considering his services now. In one week, he sent three communications to the companies’ respective CEOs before calling. This resulted in him taking on board eight new clients! All he did was target people currently considering his services.

The power of targeting hasn’t changed, but it’s dependent on having detailed information about the people you want to reach.

It’s true that you might not be able to scan eyeballs and access personal preferences, but with targeted advertising through social media, you can certainly get close.

Simply construct your adverts with particular preferences in mind, then specify that your ads only reach people with those preferences – now that’s powerful.

It may be that you want to reach only parents, married people, just women, people in a particular age group or profession etc. The list goes on and on.

To avoid pouring your money down the social media drain, make sure you have really good answers to these three questions:

1. What is my Market?

While you might assume that everyone needs a builder – and you may be correct – it’s important to remember that your potential customers don’t view it that way.

They don’t want a builder, they want a full internal makeover or an external reclad. Maybe they want more bedrooms, or a more useable living area, or they could have a young family and want to add a nursery area.

Mature couples may want to create an entertaining dining/kitchen area, a more conversation friendly lounge or a custom-built dream home.

Again, the list goes on: an ecologically friendly smart house, an executive-level family home or a retirement cottage…

And, while all these potential customers might need a builder to carry out these desires, different people are looking for different things. You can’t target them all, which leads us to our second question:

2. Who do I Target?

This is perhaps the most important question you can ask, because the answer could determine the future shape of your business.

You see, when you know who you are targeting, your business approach changes. By specialising, you start to become an expert.

Think about your ideal clients; the ones you enjoyed working with, who appreciated your work and/or who were happy with your prices and introduced you to other customers. Usually ideal clients will make up 20 – 30% of your client base, and these people are likely to be your best target market.

For example, when I began business coaching, I worked with any and every business. However, at least 60% of my clients were builders – it just seemed to happen! They also always got the best results. When I finally realised this (my blinding flash of the obvious), I realised they were my target market and I’ve since focussed on marketing to, and serving them better.

Finding your target market and focusing on it is the best way to strengthen your future, which leads us to our final question:

3. What are their interests?

This is an area where many business owners make an understandable – but significant – error. It’s important that your marketing appeals to your customers’ interest, not yours.

For example, print adverts that only focus on promoting the business are called tombstone ads. This is because most people simply don’t notice them. Just like tombstones, they are of little interest to the living.

‘Here lies <BUSINESS NAME> whose claim to fame is <BUSINESS LOGO> located at <BUSINESS ADDRESS>.’

Smart print advertisers work to capture the interest of their target market with a powerful headline, or an irresistible offer that assures a second look – but you can pay a lot for this service.

However, thanks to social media channels and Google analytics, you can now place your ad in front of people who are already interested. All you need to do is select the right interests, pay a few dollars and, as a result, your ad will appear on the social media streams exposed to the audience you’re targeting – perfect!

Yet this type of advertising will be useless, unless you make sure to include their interests, not yours.

For example, parents of teenagers may want an additional bedroom but they’re not interested in home building. If your message is targeted to people with home building as an interest, your ad won’t reach them. Instead, ask yourself what parents with teenagers might be interested in – sports? Camping? Movies? Survival!!

In a similar vein, a couple needing a nursery may be much more interested in raising young kids, child development or educational toys than in home renovation! Once again, the social media interest listings of your target market may have very little to do with your own interest listings.

Just because a couple has a need, does not mean they have an interest. For example, everyone needs a bathroom, but not many people would list bathrooms as an interest.

The game plan

In conclusion, to use this strategy to your advantage, build a list of the interests of your best clients and target your ads at these.

By understanding the specific interests of your market, your social media messages can speak directly to the kind of people you want to do business with. Just like in Minority Report.

 

About The Successful Builder

Graeme Owen, based in Auckland, is a builders’ business coach. Since 2006, he has helped builders get off the tools, make decent money, and free up time for family, fishing, and enjoying sports. Get his free ebook: 3 Reasons Builders Lose Money and How to Fix Them for High Profits at http://TheSuccessfulBuilder.com.