Defining a Target
Home Business Magazine|Summer 2021
What Michael Keaton Can Teach You About Marketing
Mark Harari
Defining a Target

“Calling all cars, calling all cars. Be on the lookout for a 45-year-old white male, 5' 9 tall, approximately 165 pounds. He has brown hair, blue eyes and is married with two children. He's a middle-class guy making about $100,000 per year and lives in Pasadena. If found, offer him a free download and get him into our marketing funnel.

Have you clearly defined your target customer? Can you put out a specific and unambiguous APB (all-points bulletin) to anyone you expect to market your business?

Unfortunately, most businesses I encounter have an APB that goes something like this: “Calling all cars, be on the lookout for everyone in Pasadena who needs [service you offer].”

That is simply not going to cut it. Why? There are two big reasons. The first reason is: You cannot afford to have everyone be your target. Marketing budgets don't enjoy economies of scale. If you're trying to reach every man, woman, and child — of all generations and creeds — simply because they are candidates for your product or service, then all you've done is split your one big budget into a whole bunch of tiny budgets.

So, while you're spending a fraction of your marketing dollars on each segment, your competitors can commit 100% of their budget to the same segment. This puts you at a significant disadvantage.

The second reason is even more critical to your business: You can't crafta compelling message to everyone. If, for example, the company above was a remodeler in Pasadena, then consider a young couple with a toddler looking to remodel their kitchen. Now, contrast that with a single woman. She's a C-Suite executive in her forties making $400k per year, and she, too, is looking to remodel her kitchen. What could you possibly say that would resonate with both? Nothing.

This story is from the Summer 2021 edition of Home Business Magazine.

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This story is from the Summer 2021 edition of Home Business Magazine.

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