| Do you know what sets successful marketers apart | | | | speak to ALL of the possible types of customers they |
| from the vast majority of businesses? Truth is, there | | | | want, they're not speaking to any of them. Prospects |
| are lots of things that highly successful marketers | | | | are people. People who have a plate full of problems in |
| do...that most businesses do not (and you thought I | | | | their own world. If you're not talking to them in their |
| was going to tell you the ONE secret to marketing). | | | | world, individually, you will be ignored. |
| But underlying all of the many things that the most | | | | So in the case of our engineering firm, they need to |
| successful marketers do is one important principal. The | | | | divide their prospects into categories like: |
| principal of "divide and conquer". This time tested | | | | * Office building owners/developers |
| method for segmenting your market into smaller and | | | | * Retail store owners |
| smaller "sub-markets" is the key foundational idea | | | | * Restaurant (not fast food) owners |
| behind all successful marketing. Most businesses | | | | * Fast food franchisees |
| market too big. | | | | * Strip Mall Developers |
| When asked who their target customer is they'll tell | | | | * School Districts |
| you "everybody who needs XYZ". This is never true. | | | | * County & City Fire Departments |
| In fact the words "everybody", "anybody" or "all" are | | | | When you separate it out like this and think about each |
| red flags when I ask someone who they want to sell | | | | type of client and what problems they face every day, |
| to. It's obvious they haven't done their homework. | | | | it's pretty clear that you need to communicate with the |
| So what do I mean by "divide and conquer"? It's really | | | | office folks differently than the restaurant people and |
| simple, but requires some thought...not a lot, but some. | | | | differently still from the school district's facilities planner. |
| Let's take by way of example an engineering firm that | | | | Then Conquer |
| sells design services. They can design any type of | | | | Now that we've divided the firm's universe of potential |
| commercial building--offices, retails stores, restaurants, | | | | clients into logical groupings, we can devise a plan to |
| fast-food joints, strip malls, schools and fire stations. All | | | | conquer each sub-market. Instead of one brochure |
| of these building sites require essentially the same | | | | and website, I'd create 7, one to two page brochures |
| design services, done by the same people in the firm. | | | | and 7 sub-market focused websites. I'd even look for |
| Logically, the firm creates a brochure, business cards | | | | web addresses like or for each sub-market. With each |
| and a website that talks about the design work they | | | | marketing piece, we're now able to focus the |
| do, the qualifications of their engineers and the places | | | | message on the specific individuals in each sub-market. |
| they work. And, somewhere on each marketing piece | | | | We can speak their language and talk about the |
| (I often find it on the back cover of brochures) they list, | | | | challenges they face without alienating prospects in the |
| in bullet form, the various types of building sites that | | | | other groups. |
| they can design. | | | | So set aside an hour to think about who you're |
| First Divide | | | | marketing too. Divide them into groups and conquer |
| All the money the firm spends on it's pretty brochures, | | | | each one. |
| cards and website will be wasted because in trying to | | | | |