The Target Audience

We’ve all heard saying about what is heard if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it. The same anecdote can apply to marketing when it comes to target audience. You could have best marketing message ever, best vehicle over and over and if right potential buyer doesn’t receive your message, nothing gets marketed; no one acts. Putting yourself in front of a potential buyer is key to marketing and selling. No potential buyers? No selling. The right target audience might be right segment, right niche within a segment or right people within a niche. If you are marketing to banks, are you marketing to bank President or branch manager? If you are marketing to manufacturers are you marketing to operations department or purchasing department? All this has to do with having right target audience for your marketing. Just as a side note, don’t forget about current customers as part of your target audience. Even breaking up current customer segments into different targets may be more effective for your marketing. Find people to populate forest and let trees fall.

If all of above is in order and deemed to be effective, don’t fix anything. If all of above is in order and marketing is still not being effective, then we need to revisit 4 P’s of marketing. Hopefully before any campaign you have evaluated strategically your product, distribution, pricing and promotion and advertising. Troubleshooting is not only trying to find out what problem is, but what problem is not. With these four components outlined, you can differentiate what is working and what is not.

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Alfred J. Lautenslager is an award winning marketing/PR consultant, direct mail promotion specialist, author, speaker and entrepreneur. His businesses have helped hundreds succeed in their own businesses. He is principal of Market For Profits, a Chicago based marketing consulting firm and also president and owner of The Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing company in Wheaton, IL. Al is a featured marketing and PR expert on numerous website publications including online version of Entrepreneur Magazine and is on small business panel for USA Today. His leadership has extended to his involvement into community, is on board of directors of five non-profit organizations. Al is also a business partner with two area school districts. He can be contacted through his websites at www.1-800-inkwell.com or www.market-for-profits.com or his email, al@market-for-profits.com and offers a free report on how to Instantly Add 50 People To Your Network at http://www.market-for-profits.com/free_report.htm.

4. Inform people of why they should shop with you or employ your services--Whether your newsletter is a hard sell or a soft sell determines how blunt you should be in telling your reader why you are best. Hard sell newsletters let readers know right up front that they are trying to get their business. Soft sell newsletters focus more on self-promotion, interacting on a level of education with potential clients, customers, patients, or employees.

5. Encourage repeat business--Newsletters remind people of your presence; let them know you are still alive and kicking.

These are some of most important benefits newsletters offer. If you give issue further thought and consideration, you will surely come up with more. As for now, you have begun to understand answer to that eternal question, "How will a newsletter benefit my business?"