marketing

3 Best Practices for Keeping Your Small Business Marketing on Target

It’s a big world out there, but your business is small…at least for now. While it’s tempting to throw caution to the wind and market to everyone, everywhere, it’s just not feasible…or affordable. To get the best return on your small business marketing investment, you need to adopt a much more targeted approach.

Targeted marketing is a pretty simple concept. Once you’ve defined your “target” — the people most likely to purchase your product or service — the goal becomes making sure that your marketing efforts are reaching them, and spurring them to buy.

These three best practices can help you keep your small business marketing efforts on track and geared toward the right audience.

1. Narrow Your Focus

Some people desperately need your products or services, and some people don’t. In the middle, there are the “maybes” – potential customers who could be convinced, but it’ll take some serious time and effort.

While it’s tempting to focus on the “maybes” in hopes of converting them, a limited marketing budget means you need to put your money into whatever will give you the greatest ROI. When you narrow your focus to include only the sure bets – the people you’ve identified as your target audiences — it’s much easier to make the sale.

That’s not to say that the “maybes” should be left out in the cold forever; you can expand your marketing efforts to them as time and money permit.

2. Hit Them Where They Live, Work or Play

In an ideal world, potential customers would come to you. But that rarely happens, which means you have to go to your customers.

Learn as much as you can about your target. Are they renters or homeowners? Do they spend their Friday nights working, at a bar or restaurant or at home with their families? Are they more likely to read the news in a newspaper or magazine, or on their computer or mobile device?

While these might seem like random questions, the answers can teach you a ton about how to market to them. For instance, if most of your intended demographic gets their news online, the advertising space you purchased in the printed paper probably isn’t going to get you the ROI you’re looking for.

3. Regularly Reevaluate Your Demographic

Your target demographic might not be your target demographic forever. As you add new products and services, you need to re-evaluate your small business marketing strategy to make sure it’s still doing its job.

Keep up to date with the trends and what they mean for your current and potential customers. Don’t miss out on a potential goldmine because you’re too focused on your present strategy. Marketing is fluid, and your target demographic is, too!

Whether you need assistance identifying who to market to or a hand with the marketing itself, Mischa can help get and keep you on track. Give us a call or drop us a line!