Monday, December 20, 2010

Does Your Marketing Reach the Right People?

You spend a lot of time, money and effort on getting your name and your message out in the world, but how do you know it’s reaching the right people?  The answer to that question consists of answering these 4 sub-questions:

1. Who are the right people?

Before you reach out to the right people you have to know who those people are, and build your marketing campaign around them.  You may think that if you indiscriminately throw something out in the world you’re avoiding restrictions and have a better chance of reaching everybody; but what’s closer to the truth is that you lack focus and are more likely to reach nobody.  If you don’t know who your target audience is, go back to basics and revisit your mission statement or purpose. Having a clear idea of your goals will not only help you figure out who your “right people” are, it will help you answer question 4 as well.

2. Where and how do they get their information?

There’s no point in putting an ad in the Yellow Pages if your target audience is the tech savvy Droid and iPhone set, and you don’t want to simply hand out your card at Starbucks if you’re trying to reach experienced professionals who place a high premium on networking at conferences and educational events. Believe it or not, first impressions don’t happen when a potential client meets you for the first time, first impressions are made when a potential client first sees your name—where they see it and in what context can have a huge impact on what they think of you. 

3. Where and how to they share their information?

The very best way for a potential client to hear about you is from someone else they already trust and admire.  This could mean a client bringing a friend to one of your seminars, it could mean a colleague giving your card to one of their clients, or it could mean your most recent blog post going viral on Facebook—however your information gets shared, the important thing is that it does get shared.  This means making it easy for “your people” to share your great qualities!  Instead of (or a well as) sending out a hard copy of your newsletter, send it out via e-mail, which is easier to forward to friends and neighbors. Make it easy for people to find your information, insights and publications on social networking sites so they can “share” with a quick click of the mouse to their hundreds of friends and followers.  When you send invitations to educational events urge the recipients to bring a friend. 

4. What do they need from you?

Okay, you’ve figured out who the right people are, how to reach them, and how to reach their friends; now you need to make sure you’re giving them what they need. Chances are they need more than your name and website put in front of them one more time; they need their questions answered.  They need to know that you understand their problems and can help them find a solution.  Our suggestion: don’t just tell your audience how great you are, show them.  Answer one of their burning questions; give them some free advice and useful information.  Once they see that YOU are the expert they need, they’ll come back to you again and again—and bring more business with them every time.