Let profits guide your marketing moves
Where Is The Best Place To Put Your Marketing Dollars? Part 2
In Part One of this blog, I explained some of the terms that are used when speaking about new media. I also told a story of a new media “true believer” who would not consider anything but new media. Finally I explained my radical marketing philosophy that follows profits rather than branding at all costs….
DO NOT BE MARRIED TO ANY ONE ADVERTISING MEDIA, TYPE OF MEDIA OR TYPE OF MARKETING –
BE MARRIED TO FINDING THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE AVENUES TO YOUR
MOST PROFITABLE NICHES (YOUR SWEET SPOT)
Part Two picks up with my thoughts about people who only believe in new media. My thoughts are the same about those that only believe in traditional media too…
The thing I found funny was the person (who only believes in new media) was holing up a publication that targeted the more affluent people in the area and had a fairly large amount of advertisers. I have a friend who owns a Super Coups franchise. (You may know them; they deliver the envelopes full of coupon offers.) His envelopes are nice and thick. The truth is if “old,” or as I like to call them “traditional medias,” were dead, neither of these publications would have as many advertisers as they do. Why? Because you cannot fool all of the advertisers all of the time – if the advertisers did not get their money’s worth, they would no longer advertise. Have some traditional media lost the reach they once had? Yes, some have lost readership/audience and do not produce the same levels of impact that they once did. However many can still cost-effectively help you grow. Over the past 10 years new media have started to come of age. The dilemma many small businesses find themselves in is that they do not have the advertising and marketing budget to do everything. So what should they do? Have you ever asked yourself this question?
I have been helping business develop and implement advertising and marketing programs for over 25 years. I was helping firms develop websites when one-screen sites actually worked. I have always held a radical philosophy on marketing and advertising. I believe in following the profits. Large companies that sell to mass markets should invest in branding. In many cases, small businesses cannot afford an advertising campaign on TV, newspapers, local editions of large magazines or continuous mass mailings. So what should they do? My advice is as follows; understand exactly who your best customers are and then spend your money targeting them. I call this highly profitable market segment your Sweet Spot. Do not be married to any one vehicle, whether it be new or traditional media, but rather commit yourself to the activities that deliver the 20% of your customers that produce the 80% of your profit. Dedicate yourself to being the best value to them and out sell and out service your competition in your Sweet Spot. By being the best value to this niche and continually utilizing the most cost-effective vehicles to reach them, you will micro brand your business to the people who deliver the lion’s share of your profits. In the end these are the ones that count the most and are the ones who have the greatest impact your company’s profits!
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