Three Tips To Improve Your Marketing Focus In Minutes
Have you been thinking about changing your marketing approach, but are not sure where to start. Improving your marketing focus can be achieved in just ten minutes, but you have to be prepared to put the effortin to focus properly. This is based on the idea that by doing less you can achieve more. According to John Hargrave (2015) of Media Shower,focusing on three areas in particular, can help you achieve that focus. These are:
- Asking yourself what your business is
- Ask who your target customers are
- Investigate which marketing programmes actually work for you.
What Is Your Business?
Starting with the first question about what your business is, it is recommended that businesses “stick to the knitting”. Understanding what that means is important. What it means, fundamentally is that the business needs to stay focused on what it is good at. Hargrave states:
Starting with the first question about what your business is, it is recommended that businesses “stick to the knitting”. Understanding what that means is important. What it means, fundamentally is that the business needs to stay focused on what it is good at. Hargrave states:
“Great companies live at the intersection of these three circles: What they are passionate about; what they can be the best in the world at; and what drives their economic engine.”
This explanation of what great companies do was first documented by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, and it was called the Hedgehog Concept. With this approach it is argued that companies need to really look at what they love doing and how the culture supports that, as well as narrowing down from those activities what the company can be best at with its unique resources. Regarding the economic engine this requires analysing what people will pay for what the company does. The reason that this is called the Hedgehog Concept, is because hedgehogs are very focused on one approach for survival – they roll into a ball with the spines on the outside. Perhaps surprisingly many companies do not know what their Hedgehog Concept is, or what it is they should truly focus on. This prevents them from being great. It is argued that how a company can be successful is in understanding what their Hedgehog Concept is and knowing that there is an opportunity there through customer demand.
Who Is Your Target Customer?
The second step is understanding who the target customer is. All too many businesses will say that they target “everyone”. It is impossible to have a great marketing strategy if this is what you do, because by trying to appeal to everyone your business will probably appeal to no one. It is also argued that in too many cases businesses have a really woolly idea of who their customers are which is not specific enough. It is argued that a helpful customer description will include specifying the gender or breakdown of males and females that buy the product, the age of the typical customer, their level of education, their average income, whether they are married or not, the type of work that they do and typical personality characteristics. It is argued that the Hedgehog Concept can be applied to the target customer to achieve greater focus and hone in on who the customer really is, as follows:
“What customer are we deeply passionate about serving? (Or, who are we good at helping?) What customer can we be the best in the world at serving? (Or, where is our competitive advantage?) What customer drives our economic engine? (Or, who has the money to pay us?)”
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By really getting to the bottom of these questions is it possible to focus on the right customers and refine the marketing strategy accordingly to attract this audience.
Which Marketing Programmes Work For You?
The final area of focus is explained to be identifying one marketing programme that works in reaching that specific audience. That is hard for some organisations. Many do not want to narrow it down to just one. It is argued that in doing this it is necessary to discover where your product is on the technology adoption curve. If your business is new you will be targeting innovators or early adopters. If it has been around for a while you may be targeting a more conservative early or late majority. If the product is at the end of the cycle you will be targeting laggards. This can provide clues on how to market to these people. Experimenting isn’t necessarily the right way to go, especially if you are targeting a group of laggards. They will be unlikely to appreciate or even receive the marketing messages if you use new techniques. On the other hand, early adopters and innovators will likely appreciate these types of approaches.
As can be seen, by focusing on what your business does, who your customers are and the one marketing programme that works you can achieve more than if you are not focused. So why not give it a try?
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
