Once you know how you want to approach individual customer groups, it should be easier to allocate your marketing budget to individual marketing campaigns.

Before we use start any serious marketing campaign planning, you should look at these areas:

• Target Market – Who are you targeting with this marketing campaign? What type of potential customers?
• Reach of Campaign – How many customers can be reached by your campaign? This depends on the actual type of marketing campaign, eg:

• Brochures – How many brochures will you distribute?
• Print Advertising – What is the circulation of the magazine? How many people will get to read it?
• Radio/TV Ads – What is the listenership or audience of the radio/TV station? How many people will listen to or watch the show?
• Personalized Letters – How many letters will you send?
• Networking Events – How many people will hear your marketing message? How many will you meet?
• Exhibitions – How many people will attend?
• Seminars – How many people will attend?
• Online Marketing – How many visitors will come to your website?

• Expected # Leads – How many potential customers do you expect to contact you after the campaign?
• Expected # Sales – How many customers do you expect to buy from you after the campaign?
• Expected Sales Value – How much sales will the campaign generate?
• Expected Marketing Budget – What is your marketing budget for the campaign? How much will you spend?

Once you have a few very powerful marketing messages that enable customers to see clearly the value in your products and when they hear what is in it for them, it will feel good to buy from you.

So think about the following when you put the headline on your next flyer:

1. How could you polish the message and is there a way you could improve any word of it?
2. Is there a way you could test individual marketing messages by asking customers how much they value the benefits you used in the messages?
3. Imagine you could transfer each of these messages into powerful testimonials from customers – what would be the best way to do this?

Successful marketers all share a common trait; they are passionate about their services and they are persistent in ensuring they are successful. So you know your company inside out. Agreed, you may not see it precisely as your customers see it, but you should know what it does!

The following three questions will help you see clearly where your products match the specific problems and desires of customers and how you should phrase these benefits using a marketing message that will make people buy.

1. How could you translate all your product features into benefits that actually matter to your customers?
2. How could you rephrase each of the benefits as a question you could ask a potential customer so that they would easily understand what you offer?
3. Is there a way you could relate to these benefits when you communicate with individual customers?

This part of marketing can be one of the most challenging, since many people find it difficult to put their thoughts into words. With clearly defined marketing messages, customers will be able to clearly identify the benefits, in their terms, to enable them to make a buying decision.

But don’t worry, with the information from previous chapters you really can do this, just make sure you follow these rules when creating marketing message for each of your products:

• Use the language of customers
• Mention the benefits of your products
• Set the time to benefit
• Give customers a clear reason to act now

Your marketing message must stir up emotions! You can do this by making customers who want products feel that they can justify it with a need, and by presenting them with the downside of non-ownership or a continued pain.

If you had a marketing message that made customers really want to buy from you – what difference would that make to your sales?

Fact! Most your marketing fails to bring in sales leads for one reason – “Your marketing message is not relevant to customers!”

Therefore it’s crucial that you consider these points seriously:

• Understand that having the right marketing message means success in your marketing career
• Learn how to create marketing messages that will make customers want to buy from you
• Make sure you use these marketing messages in the most effective way

So you are in marketing. Well done. Since you might even be a marketing expert, and know the marketing industry outside out, we won’t bother you too much with basics. However, we found it important to point out on the major aspects of choosing the right target market, so that you are fully aware of the potential you now have in front of you.

How to Define Your Target Market?

So now you probably know who your ideal customers are and what they want. But how can you find more of these customers, eager to buy your products?

There are many ways of finding out your target market, indeed books have been written on it. The best way is to use data that is available to you, such as who influences, decides on and pays for your products. You need to target your marketing message specifically to the right people.

And keep in mind that different people within the decision process will want different things!

When talking to a man, you might want to keep in mind that they will probably discuss their decision with their wife. When selling a product to a purchasing manager, they might need to talk to the managing director before they make the final ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ decision.

When you understand who influences your customers, you will be able to create marketing messages that appeal to the influencers’ problems and desires as well.

Now it’s much clearer what you want to achieve, isn’t it? From defining your target market, you will be able to easily create your marketing strategy, set realistic goals, and approach the right people with the right marketing messages.