Blunderbuss marketing no way to reach your targets

If your business is struggling to get its message across, it could be you're using blunderbuss marketing.

For those who haven't used a blunderbuss lately, it's a crude medieval musket with a big barrel which discharges a large quantity of shot in the general direction of the target.

Huge bang, lots of smoke, but minimal effect on those it's intended for.

Sound a bit like your marketing?

A well-aimed approach would achieve much better results.

Are you trying to cover as many aspects as possible in your marketing in the hope that you will attract inquiries from a wide range of prospects?

Ever wondered why it's not working?

The effectiveness of a marketing strategy is in direct proportion to how well it addresses the problems of the target prospect.

We're all different.

It's just not possible to develop a one-size-fits-all approach that works equally well for everyone.

Most business owners and managers recognise this. But the challenge can be how to segment the market.

It's easy to divide markets by demographics — age, gender, number of staff, or industry sector.

But such arbitrary categories don't necessarily provide a basis on which to develop a more targeted (and thus more profitable) approach for each group.

While those things may be some help in defining a market segment, by themselves they're not a reason for creating a segment.

Indeed, why create a market segment? And what is it that defines a market segment?

The first question provides the answer to the second, and one of the keys to successful marketing.

Smart marketers try to reach groups of prospects through their common problems, needs, and motivations.

They know that those factors are the "hot buttons" which gain attention and create interest, and that these motivations often differ widely.

So it makes sense to define market segments the same way.
With this approach, a market segment is a market segment because it begs to be treated differently. Those in a segment have common perspectives, needs and motivations which are different from other groups.

Take a window cleaner as an example. This business has customers who are young, old, well-off, or have limited incomes. But that's no way to segment the market for window cleaning.

Instead, the window cleaner can use his knowledge and some customer research to split the market into segments such as:

1. People with busy lives who want their homes to be neat and clean.

2. People with hard-to-reach windows who don't like heights.

3. People who find it difficult to do strenuous household chores because of health or other reasons.

The window cleaner can then develop marketing strategies and materials for each segment, a process which is a lot easier with an understanding of each group's motivations.

Try writing a generic advertisement or flyer for a window cleaner. Then try writing one for any of the three segments above. See how much easier it is to hit the target?

The same process can be applied by most businesses with greater success than can be achieved through blunderbuss marketing.