1. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Identify and Understand Your Target Market

2. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Designed to help you:  Define, identify and locate your core customer  Manage your marketing function more effectively

3. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Who Are You?  Internal understand of your:  Strengths and weaknesses  Positioning in the marketplace  What are the features of your product or service?  Examples:  One stop shopping  Safety  Private coaching

4. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Who Are You?  What are the benefits of your feature or service? Try to keep it at one or two benefits  Examples:  One stop shopping = Time and gas saving  Safety = Protect your family from harm  Private coaching = focus on your individual needs/wants

5. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Who Are You?  What emotional need, pain or challenge would a customer have that you can alleviate through the benefits of your product or service?  How do your benefits differentiate from the competition? Who are they?  Why do clients continue to work with you?

6. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Who are you?  Focus on owning a word in your prospect’s minds. Be sure no one else owns the word or focus.  Volvo = the safest car  Be sure you have adequate funding to complete your program.

7. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Research  The following slides have questions that must be answered to produce sales in your market.  Use questionnaires or phone conversations with your customers to gain insight.  May have to hire a research firm.

8. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Identify Your Customer Use research to determine:  B to C Demographics: age, gender, geography, etc.  B to B Firmographics: industry, revenue, employee size, geography, etc.  What is a day in the daily life like?  Where can you reach them?

9. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Identifying Your Customer  Psychographics – how does your customer think?  What do they read, drive, eat?  What are their favorite activities?  What other companies do they support?  When and how often does your customer buy?

10. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Identifying Your Customer  Baby Boomers (1946-1964 +/- ) 81 million  The “US” generation  Gen-X (1965-1979 +/- ) 46 million  The “I” generation  Gen-Y, Millennials, echo boomers, baby busters (1980-1995 +/- ) 75 million  The “All” generation

11. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Who Is or Could Be Your Target?  Do you know who your core customer is today?  Open your mind and ask yourself who else could use your product or service?  Redefine the definition of your core customer.

12. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Customers with Extreme Needs  Who can your product/service target focus?  Examples:  Elderly  Families  Business owners  Pet owners

13. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Challenging Customers  Can you focus on opportunities that others shy away from?  Examples:  Garbage removal  Toxic waste removal  Customers whom others do not want to deal with

14. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Customers Who Control Spending Decisions  Who are the actual buyers of your product? Which customers control the buying decisions?  Example:  Architects  General contractors

15. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Customers with Varying Levels of Category Experience  Focus on new people to your product category.  These are customers who may not have an understanding or negative perception of your product.  Example:  Wine tastings and lecture  Solar energy educational  TAB board presentations

16. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Narrow Your Aim Positioning Statement  For (target audiences)  Who are dissatisfied with (current status)  That provides (list the problem-solving capability)  Unlike (competition or alternatives)  We have (list benefits)  Your mission (list mission)

17. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Marketing Tactics Marketing includes an integrated mix of tactics to generate demand from potential and existing customers.

18. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Target Marketing  What is the most successful tactic to reach your current customer?  How do you know that? Does it fit your budget?  Blogging  Social networks  Non-targeted, broadcast pitches are spam

19. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Target Marketing  Telemarketing  Trade shows  Word of mouth (WOM)  Webinars  Wiki  Direct mail  E-mail

20. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Target Marketing  Think about buyers preferred Media  Web content  Use your buyers words  All releases should contain keyword-rich copy

21. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Guerilla Marketing  Unconventional  Unexpected  Energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget

22. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Conclusion  The most effective marketing is generally a mix of different methods and tactics.  No one person can be an up-to-date expert on all the marketing methods and tools.

23. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Conclusion  Your best marketing practices need to be continually improving with “fresh ideas.”  Remember, your competition wants to stand out.

24. © 2009 TAB Boards International, Inc. All rights reserved. Conclusion  Marketing must continually evolve as you respond to market conditions, increase your budget with growth, test new ideas, and integrate them into your plan.  Do this and you will beat your competition!