No incentive to call now… etc.

Pick up your local newspaper of a magazine and go to any page. You’ll see this type of ad all over the place.

I urge you to stop this now. Big brand marketing and advertising could be costing you thousands of pounds.

Big brand advertising is fine if all you want to do is promote the image of your company, your products, or the services you offer.

But let me tell you – image itself doesn’t generate sales!

And when you consider the fact that your clients, customers or prospects really don’t care about you, your business or what you sell all they care about is 'what you can do for me'. That explains why to a small and medium sized business, image or big brand advertising is a complete waste of money.

Always remember this…

People don’t buy your product or service – they buy the result. They buy ‘what’s in it for me’. They buy a solution to their problem(s).

It’s true that big brand advertising can help build “brand-awareness”.

And that’s okay for large corporations such as Coca-Cola, that have multi-million pound advertising budgets (having said that, these companies would prosper even more if they used direct response advertising).

But most small or medium size businesses simply cannot afford to spend their hard-earned money like this.

What would you prefer…

Marketing and advertising that generates sales, almost immediately (direct response), or advertising that builds your name awareness or ‘brand’ (institutionalised advertising) in the hope that sometime in the future someone who wants your product or service remembers your ad and may or may not decide to buy from you?

Do you really have any option?

I guarantee as soon as you start writing direct response marketing and advertising, your results will skyrocket. For example, those characterised by powerful headlines, large amounts of copy written in a very personal style, cluttered ads, a reason to call now and a free bonus for calling (special report etc) etc., …you’ll increase your responses and sales many times over.

Break from tradition.

Start creating marketing strategies that give you a fast and immediate response, that you can monitor and assess in terms of cost and return. You’ll save money and make much more money by following this advice!

I can’t stress enough how important this is to you.

How can you expect your clients, customers or patients to be able to choose you, over and above any of your competitors, if they can’t quickly see what it is you do that is so unique and beneficial to them?

Outstanding businesses have been founded on a differentiator alone. For example, here's a very well known differentiator…

"Red hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less - guaranteed."

Tom Monahan of Dominos Pizza created one of the most successful fast food businesses in the world from the strength of this differentiator. They currently produce $3.4 Billion in revenue!

Please don't dismiss the importance of having a differentiator.

I guarantee your competitors are unlikely to have one. This will make a massive difference to the growth and profitability of your business.

Plus, there are other factors to consider…

If you are viewed by your clients, customers or patients and prospects to be the same as your competitors, what do you think becomes the important criteria when they want your product or service?

That’s right – price.

There’s no hiding the fact that as soon as you create your differentiator you automatically take your business out of the “price war” and into the nirvana of higher prices/fees – and less competition!

That’s the power of a differentiator.

By focusing on one or more target markets you're able to connect with these people at a much higher level, and consequently you automatically gain more business.

I'm sure you've heard people say things like, "This person really connects with me, they really understand my business." This is what you do when you choose to market to these different groups.

Think about it…

What’s also important to understand is that certain groups of people or businesses are more likely to want and need your products and services more than others.

More importantly your target market must focus on the groups who can AFFORD your products or services.

There’s no point in targeting groups who want and need your products or services if many of them can’t afford to buy or pay for them!

A common question I’m often asked is this – “If I limit my market won’t I be reducing the chances of doing business with more people?”

Of course you will, but to succeed in today’s competitive market place you need to concentrate your marketing on a smaller number of well chosen segments or niches into which you pour all your resources.

Because you are targeting smaller numbers, the same amount of money you were previously using to acquire clients or customers, is spread across a smaller number, and therefore you have more to spend on each prospect than you would if your market was bigger. This alone makes you more successful.

In a nutshell your target market is the segment(s) that represents your best chance of getting a good return for your marketing efforts.

These target markets are critical to you.

Of course, if you focus on a smaller group you may not get the business of other people or businesses outside the target group. However, what actually happens is you increase the amount of business you receive from your target market(s).

This is because you are specifically meeting needs and requirements of your chosen market.

You’re saying to them that, ‘you are THE company that knows about their situation’.

No other company specifically meets their needs in this way, and therefore you are seen as the logical company to turn to.

Here’s an example to show the power of defining your market or niche…

Let’s say you’re a start-up business and you need an accountant. Your first choice is to look in the local newspaper. Although there are a number of small ads the first one you see reads…

‘ABC Chartered Accountants. Tax preparation, auditing, bookkeeping, payroll services and management accounts, for all types of businesses.’

The second ad reads…

‘XYZ Chartered Accountants. Specialising in helping Start-Ups get their businesses running quickly, profitably and effectively.’

Which firm of accountants are you likely to choose?

The answer is obvious, but it serves a good example to show how effective this strategy is – yet how widespread it is that few businesses follow this simple approach!

The first ad is trying to be all things to all people and is a very common approach.

The second ad is completely focused on 'start-ups' and therefore is much more likely to get start-up business owners contacting them and in much higher numbers.

If you can create this bond between you and your target market(s) I guarantee you’ll grow your business to unprecedented levels.

That's the power of target marketing.

By concentrating on specific groups, you can achieve very high market shares in that particular category because people automatically come to you.

You'll ‘own’ the market.

You are viewed as the only choice because your product or service is 'designed' to solve the specific problems of those people.

Not focusing on one or more target markets is perhaps the biggest mistake people make!