Hi and welcome again to another exciting Marketing Tip of the Week. Over the next two weeks I’m going to go over, what I feel is one of the steps you have to do in creating the customer you want to do business with.
As hard as you try, you can’t change the way people think.
You can spend a lot of time, money and energy trying to market products to people who don’t want to buy them, or can’t afford them, and you may even get a few orders. But you won’t build an effective and profitable business by trying to force your products into a market.
Fortunately, there is a better and easier way to sell your products and build yourself a successful business. It is called “Target Marketing”.
By “Target Marketing” I simply mean targeting an audience who has already demonstrated a desire for your products or services. And then delivering your products and services when they want to buy them.
So if you target your marketing efforts to . . .
The right audience
With the right products
At the right time of the year,
you will have created the type of customer you desire!
You may have heard all this before, but stay with me. This is the number one secret to success. If you use it, then you can almost guarantee yourself success with all your direct mail projects.
Target Marketing the Secret to Success!
The first step of target marketing is to identify a group of people who have the money to purchase your products or services!
The most cost effective way to do this is to analyze your current best customers and then see if you can find a bunch more. You see, if the people in your target market have no money to spend, it won’t make any difference what you are selling, how good a sales letter you have, or how well your business was planned.
If your customers can’t buy, you lose.
On the other hand, if you target only people who have money to spend, you’re stacking the deck in your favor. Your targeting people who at least have the capability to buy from you and that’s pretty important.
Failure to target people with money means one sure thing – your project will fail. People without the capacity to make purchases from you can’t be your customers!!!
This may be the most important lesson you ever learn about using direct mail.
Success depends on choosing the right markets, not the right products.
OK, so now you have the secret, what’s next?
Finding the Market
The first place to look for a market that meets the above qualifications is to review a recent copy of the Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) list book. You can get a copy at your local library. This book contains information on thousands of mailing lists from magazines and other sources. It also includes lists of consumers who have recently made direct mail purchases. (This can be very helpful. It’s good to know if your prospects have already made purchases through the mail.)
The SRDS is an invaluable tool, and one worth investing in. If you can afford it, you should definitely get your own copy. I keep it here in my office and every once in awhile; I refer to it for ideas.
Although I can’t recommend you subscribe to SRDS, (it is far too expensive), I do think you should call and order at least one copy of the book and keep it around for reference. You can call (1-708-256-6067) I believe this is still the correct number, and get a single copy. If it isn’t the right number, then go on the Internet and type in SRDS in the search section.
Take the time to study the book carefully. You’ll be able to browse through the thousands of mailing lists available, and narrow your target market down to a few, (twenty or so), that strike your interest.
Browsing through the SRDS will really open your eyes to the possibilities and opportunities available to your using direct mail to increase your business.
You’ll find information about markets and products you never knew existed, and chances are, you’ll find some that really interest you.
Keep a pad of post-it notes handy while you browse the book. It’s helpful to mark a page that has a list that may match your clients closely. Or, you may want to mark a new list that appeals to you even more than your existing customer profile.
What makes the SRDS mailing list directory so useful is the information it provides about each list. Here is a list of the categories available about each list.
Description of list – who is specifically on the list
List source – how the list was compiled (from orders, inquiries, subscriptions, space ads, etc.)
Product – what the people bought or inquired about
Average unit of sale – how much people spent
Method of payment – credit card, check, cash, cod
Recency – how recent the sales
Quantity and rental rates – number of names on list, and current rental rate per 1,000 names
Demographic breakdown – age, sex, ethnic group, education, occupation, income level, home ownership, multi-purchaser, etc.
Method of addressing – cheshire labels, pressure sensitive labels, mag tape, etc.
List manager – company or person who manages and sells the list.
Having this kind of information at your fingertips makes it easy for you to find the kind of market you want to sell to. That’s why just about everyone in the business has a copy of this great reference directory, and uses it frequently when developing new projects
Well that’s it for this Issue. Next time I’ll write about another solution to problems you might be having and how to reverse them. If you need step by step instructions on how to implement this and other ideas I give on Creating Customers. Please go to www.buildyourbusinessfast.com and sign up for my one on one Coaching program. You can’t lose by investing just $20/month in the growth of your business. You probably Tip more than your investment each month. Invest in the growth of your business.
Virtual Assistant Talent