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How to Ignite Higher Sales
by Michael Huggins, RGDHave you ever placed an ad or created a promo piece for your business hoping for great results (mainly for the phone to ring off the wall) only to find that you were hugely disappointed with the outcome?
Do you know why some marketing efforts are so successful while others aren’t worth the paper they are printed on?
The answer is focus.
Many designers face disappointment in their marketing because they don’t focus their marketing with pinpoint accuracy on their target market.
Many designers understand the concept of targeting – but few apply it effectively to their business.
So what is targeting exactly?
Simply said, it’s focusing your communication efforts on:
• a specific person
• who has a specific problem
• to which you offer a specific solution
And it’s deceivingly difficult to do well.
The tendency with designers and design firms is to spread out their focus in order to open up greater opportunities.
The thinking is… that by broadening their focus on many different people they are creating greater opportunity (because they’re not excluding anyone from doing business with them). And it would seem to make sense.
Except for one thing – it doesn’t work.
A wide focus (if you can even call it a ‘focus’) is really no focus at all. And as a result it’s highly ineffective as a marketing strategy – not to mention very costly to you.
To illustrate the difference between focused targeting and unfocused targeting. I want you to look at something we used to do as kids (well, some of us anyway) and that was trying to light a piece of paper on fire with a magnifying glass.
If you’ve ever tried this, you know that by holding the magnifying glass between the sun and the paper, you harness the sun’s energy to do the work of lighting the paper on fire.
If the light shining through the lens is kept broad and diffused it has no impact. Oh it may get a little warm, but that’s nothing compared to what it could do.
But!
If you focus the light to a pinpoint, it becomes very hot and very powerful. So powerful that the paper immediately ignites!
The same can happen with your marketing when you focus your message to your target your audience.
Why is focused targeting so effective?
Because when you target a specific market with a common problem you have the ability to speak to them specifically. Just like you were speaking to them one-on-one.
And one-on-one is always a better way to communicate. Your goal is to always create marketing that speaks that way – every time you do it.
Let there be no mistake in the mind of your prospect that you are speaking directly to them. And when you do this, and do it well, you will have their attention. Marketing like this makes it very clear to the prospect that you understand who they are, and that you can help them solve their problems to help them achieve what they want.
It’s a powerful position to hold in the mind of your prospect.
You immediately separate your business from all other competitors by putting the focus on your prospect – not on yourself. When you focus your message on your prospect your marketing generates a magnetic attraction between you and your future client.
Targeting is as powerful to your marketing as the magnifying glass is to lighting paper on fire. Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty…
How do you narrow your focus on a specific target market? Where do you start? (Especially with so many options to choose from?)
What are the best target markets, and how do you select them?
Here’s a 3 step guide to help you narrow your focus and select a profitable target market.
1. Start with a marketplace need
There must first be a market out there who wants what you have to offer.
Many designers start with the service they have to offer and then look around for buyers to sell it to.
I call it the “Build it and they will come” syndrome. It might work in the movies but it doesn’t work in real life.
If there is no need – there is no target market worth pursuing.
Start with a want or desire from a group of individuals in the marketplace FIRST. Your marketplace has to want what you are selling BEFORE you try and sell it to them.
You can’t create a desire for your product if they aren’t already predisposed to the benefit(s) of those services. If someone doesn’t see a need for design services no amount of advertising or marketing is going to convince them otherwise.
Identify what the marketplace needs are first – then create your service offering around it.
2. Create services to address the market’s problem
Do you have a set of skills or services that address the defined problems of a specific target market? If so, what are they? Can you create a service offering that is equally attractive to the rest of the marketplace?
What are you currently doing now that you can specialize in? Make a list of the services you provide for your current clients. What types of service do you give them now that they find most valuable?
What problems do your clients rely on you to solve for them? What would your clients say is the greatest advantage you bring to THEIR business?
Can you recreate this value for others in the same marketplace? And is their potential to market it to others in a similar situation?
Reviewing what you do now for your current clients is a great way to identify a marketplace need. Chances are, if it is valuable to your current clients it will be valuable to others in a similar situation. Once you identify what that is, then package your service offering around the need, and start focusing your messaging on your target.
If you are not able to identify a target market from your existing client base then you can select a target market by researching the marketplace at large.
What needs are going unfulfilled in the marketplace? Can you create a service offering that addresses those needs? Can you offer a unique approach or service offering to a needy market?
Opportunity is everywhere.
Needs could exist among a common group of people like small business owners who need corporate identity packages. Or you could focus on medium and large businesses who need newsletter design services. Or you could target companies search for a specific solution, like generating leads using on-line or off-line marketing tools.
Spend a little time researching various marketplaces for ‘wants’ you can fulfill. Preferably one that is a perfect match for the type of service you want to provide (or can start providing).
3. Identify and promote where your target markets gathers
Part of being successful in selecting a target market is ensuring you have a way to reach them through your marketing efforts.
There may be many lucrative market segments out there but if you have no way of reaching them it’s almost useless to pursue.
It is very important that when you select a target market for your business that you have a way of connecting with them.
Determine where they gather before selecting them as your target market.
What magazines do they read? What types of sites do they surf on the internet? Do they belong to special groups or associations? And are you able to advertise or market in the places where they gather to do these things?
Keep in mind that the cost for marketing to different groups will vary. Different markets have different costs associated to reaching them. If you are not prepared to invest in the necessary marketing media required to reach your audience you will never see the results you want.
Look at your target market and calculate the cost for reaching them effectively. You may decide that marketing to some target groups is just not profitable for your business.
Weigh the pros and cons of communicating to your target audience. If you don’t have an accessible way of reaching your target market you are going to have trouble being effective.
If you are interested in driving the sales of your business higher, then narrow your focus using these 3 easy to follow guidelines. It’s only by targeting a specific market, with a specific problem and promoting your specific solution to them will you experience successful results in generating leads.
Dedicated to Graphic Designer SuccessMichael Huggins
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