Before starting any campaign, remember it’s all about YOU ( the customer ) and not about US ( The seller )
So, being a customer, you need to make a plan. Like any journey, there needs to be a destination ( what are you trying to achieve ) and a starting position ( What are you actually offering your prospect and do you want them to do?).
These questions however are not as straight forward as first viewed.
Your business objective is not about profit or turnover but providing your chosen market with what they require. That in turn depends on how that matches with what you supply.
A cheap product will often appeal to one market profile whilst a quality product to an entirely different market audience.
Defining the right company or person for your “offer” is absolutely paramount. If you have a current set of clients, it is likely they will provide the best prospect profile If you start cold then asking yourself what benefits the prospect would obtain from your “offer” may give a clue. There is also the possibility of prospects that have never been targeted and one needs to think outside the box (e.g. all are accountants but only they have been selected in past campaigns).
How many prospects do you require or need? You may be in a broad market where awareness to your product or service is continuous OR it may be a limited nice e.g florists.
On our planned journey we must also decide our method of travel from start to destination. The marketing mix is a large collection of elements that one can use, including above the line advertising to PR, from direct mail to Email, from exhibition to networking. To decide the most effective, we need to know Where our audience is.
Is it an office or home. It maybe a meeting venue or a large exhibition hall. These locations will require a differing method of communication and presentation. These locations will also include differing size of companies and a wide variety of consumers. Again we need to make a decision of to whom we wish our clients to be. Are they the top companies or are they affluent consumers. What these companies or consumers need is varied depending on their size, interests, current positions, location etc.
It is also important when planning the market and objective as to the most profitable.
What sells in volume may not be the most profitable. I one can offer some item that is original or new or with an exclusive benefit, that may be define both the offer and the market even though it appears against your current thinking.
The definition our market in all matters is the foundation of creating a successful relationship that will lead to long term sales.
