P.T. Barnum once famously said, “50% of my advertising works – but I just don’t know which 50%”
So why does this happen?
I believe there’re two main reasons.
1) Not segmenting their market correctly
2) Not rigorously tracking where their leads come from and who’s actually turning into buyers.
Let’s look at them in turn.
Segmenting your market means working out exactly who has the problem your solution will fix AND is willing to buy it.
Here’s an example from the other day.
Driver fatigue is a major contributor to road deaths. I met someone who sells a Driver Fatigue Alarm which could save your life by warning you when you have a micro sleep.
Now you’d be forgiven for thinking that every driver who goes long distances, be it on holiday or as a professional driver, would be a prospect.
Not so. Younger drivers think they’re bullet proof and never fall asleep at the wheel! It’s older drivers (lots of Grey Nomads), and professionals who buy the product.
So it’s of no use advertising to the younger market – they won’t respond. However, placing ads in Caravan magazines and radio stations targeting this audience brings in sales.
How does he know? That brings me to my other point. He tracks each enquiry to see where it originated from.
Too many businesses don’t do this. They have no idea where the enquiries came from, so can’t target their advertising spend appropriately. In short, just like P.T. Barnum, they have no idea what’s working and what isn’t, which simply wastes money.
So how can you go about segmenting and tracking?
Here’s a process we take our clients through.
Set aside at least half a day.
Go through your client list (both current and historical) and start grouping them into various demographics. Obviously these will depend on your industry but here are some examples to get you started.
Financial planners could categorise by age, income level, professions (doctors, lawyers, trade business owners etc.), product types etc.
Photographers by weddings (1st and 2nd), portrait (adults, kids), commercial, landscape etc.
Manufacturers by specific industries that use their products – some industries may be better verticals than others.
Now work out who your good clients are and where they came from. There will be patterns which help you create specific marketing material that specifically targets each group. And finally rigorously track your results.
Obviously, this is a simplified synopsis.
If you’d like help with segmenting, creating marketing material and tracking, we can facilitate the process.
We’ll work with you to segment your clients so you’ll know exactly what’s working and what isn’t. We can create targeted marketing material which directly draws in your prospects and help you convert them using our proven sales methods.
Give me a call on (02) 9499-7958 to get the ball rolling.
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