Make Sure Your Message Is Meaningful And On Target

August 16, 2019

A business can have the best product or service and a fabulous marketing campaign consisting of multiple forms of delivery...social media, email, direct mail, television, webinars, etc., but if the campaign is not targeting the correct market, the message never reaches its intended audience resulting in wasted efforts, lost revenue, and missed opportunities for effective branding. Conversely, a message might be delivered to the correct target market but the message itself is not effective. 

Right or Wrong

Whether it is a situation of “right customer, wrong message” or “wrong customer, right message,” marketing and branding become worthless in these situations. Effective marketing means hitting the target all time with the right message...right customer, right message. 

Know Your Customer

The first and fundamental rule of marketing is to know your customer. Although, this seems logical enough, in reality many businesses think they know their customer base when, in fact, the customer base is quite different. As businesses struggle to increase sales and broaden their base, it is important to continuously understand and refine the target market. 

Markets are always changing based on customer demands, the economy, competition, new products and services, etc. This is why it is not only wise but a necessity for businesses to make the most of market research, which does not have to be outsourced but can utilize company data and other low cost options to achieve desired results.

Market Research

Conducting market research is valuable for both a startup or ongoing business to:

•    Determine customer base
•    Identify products and/or services to be offered
•    Learn customers’ needs
•    Improve upon current offerings
•    Understand how to retain current customers and attract new customers

Low cost market research options might be:

•    Ask existing customers about their needs
•    Obtain suggestions from customers about current products and services offered
•    Send out questionnaires
•    Have in-business or email comment cards
•    Review monthly business activity for trends
•    Organize focus groups to gain insight into what customers and prospects think about the business, products/services, pricing, quality, marketing, reputation, branding efforts, etc.
•    Analyze customer base for location, demographics, purchasing patterns, etc.

Understanding Is Key

It can be simple yet complicated all at the same time. It seems simple enough to think that any business should know its target customer and the message it wants to deliver. Unfortunately, at times this can be difficult when the customer base consists of multiple targets, periodically changes, or is actually different than what the company thinks it is.

Hitting the target market with the right message greatly enhances the effectiveness of any marketing campaign. Therefore, money spent becomes an investment rather than an expense item. Be judicious in the scope, focus, and cost of marketing making sure that the emphasis is on the “right customer, right message.”