Marketing to specific groups of consumers, or target marketing, is one of the most important concepts in marketing. Those email newsletters you receive after becoming a customer somewhere are not random – they have a purpose and are often tailored to things you’ve viewed or expressed interest in. A sales team simply doesn’t have the insights, time, or often the resources to execute these types of strategic campaigns.
Many consumers who have stayed loyal to the same brand, dealership, or salon for years will say that they appreciate the personal attention they receive there. Unless time is dedicated to each and every week to working a marketing strategy, forward movement in business is highly unlikely.
Oftentimes salespeople have a broader focus, preferring to spend their days with appointments and meetings – activities that build relationships – rather than sitting behind a desk doing what a marketing department does best. Because it has never been more apparent that the relationship between sales and marketing is still just as misunderstood as ever, especially with advances in marketing technology.
Marketing channels are also used by companies to reach their consumers. As a result, decisions are often made without the consultation of the marketing strategy, and that means they are not likely to be in alignment with the strategy. Especially for small companies, one thing or another can come up that gets the business owner off track, and unfortunately, when that happens, marketing tends to move to the back burner.
Develop A Marketing And Marketing Communications Strategy And Plan For Small Or Midsized Companies
One of the basics of all marketing and advertising training is a teaching of “Maslow’s needs pyramid”. It’s no accident that more recently established companies, tech giants, and organizations that employ a large number of millennials are killing it with their marketing efforts. Without this it is easy to become so consumed with one plan and one set of actions that other plans and required actions start to suffer.
That’s why most small businesses turn to marketing experts for assistance, and when they do, their business explodes. Mike Roach, CEO of CGI, was quoted as saying, “Strategy without execution is a hallucination!” If that is true, then marketing theory without strategy and execution is psychosis.
On the marketing side, however, retention refers to maintaining a higher level of consistent engagement (through targeted marketing based on buying preferences, interests and history) so that the customer relationship doesn’t end at the initial purchase.
Is Target Marketing Ethical?
Planning for the year ahead is never an easy task. People with diabetes or consumers who are watching their weight are able to eat chocolate that is made without sugar. We should use marketing theory to inform our decisions and help us plan our strategy, and when we do that, our execution will be solid. Since different marketing tactics should be used for different customers, knowing this is essential, but too many companies guess at who their customer is rather than knowing them in depth.
It is not a marketing employee’s responsibility to follow up with a salesperson’s existing customer once the lead has been handed off, nor is it their responsibility to convert a lead to a sale, “close the deal,” or make sure the client remains a client for many years.
Instead of bothering strangers, connect with your existing customers or people who have indicated interest in your services or products. Especially in the early days it’s easy to underestimate the time required for certain actions or miss some important actions all together.
Maslow’s Marketing Filter
Marketing to specific groups of consumers, or target marketing, is one of the most important concepts in marketing. For most small businesses, overcoming all of the obstacles that get in the way of creating and executing a sound marketing strategy is not really feasible. There are many chocolate producing companies whose target market is children. A wellness provider, for example, may offer a multitude of therapies, but instead of rhyming off that long list, which can be overwhelming and confusing, share the outcome of how your customers will feel after they’ve experienced your services.
Without it, no strategy will be realized, which is why it’s crazy that so many companies create a business plan and then file it away in a binder on a dusty shelf. Nike teamed up with Michael Jordan to create marketing giant. Finally, distributing a pre-recorded message makes it possible to contact hundreds and thousands of people with just a fraction of the time it would take to make personal calls.
Marketing With A Telephone
Throughout history, chocolate has been marketed differently to different consumer types. You wouldn’t engage in marketing if you had nothing to sell, and your sales strategy would be much less informed and successful if not for your marketing efforts. Marketing theory is the science of marketing. A common mistake made by older, more established businesses is to assume that salespeople are skilled at marketing and that marketing people are skilled at making sales.
On the sales side, client retention refers more to the salesperson’s efforts to use the client relationship to continually check in with the client, attempt to engage them in further discussions about additional products or services they may be interested in, and seek referrals to the client’s friends and family members.
Marketers now direct promotions at those of certain age groups, gender, race, marital status, gender preferences, and just about any other category you can place people in.