There is an old saying in marketing that goes like this.
“If you try and appeal to everyone in general, you’ll attract no-one in particular”. This is a critical concept to understand before you plan and execute a marketing campaign.
Stop and think about it for just a moment.
Why is it that old school “three foot rule” style marketing strategies are so horribly ineffective offline?
Primarily, they are far too broad. Not everyone you come into contact with is going to be interested in your product or business opportunity. So trying to convince people at random that they should be, is unprofessional, disrepectful, ineffective, and just plain bad manners.
One of the elements of online marketing that makes it so incredibly powerful, is that it affords you the opportunity to research a potential market and market exclusively to it.
A great place to get started, is to consider who your best potential prospects are. Here, it is important that you don’t think in terms of demographics (these are mostly quite broad), but instead, think of niches.
What is a niche?
A niche is a relatively small and specialist, yet profitable, market.
And this is precisely where you want to focus your efforts. Many people think of their market in very broad terms, because coming into the industry, we are usually told that there is a huge market for your company or product. And that may very well be the truth.
But that does not mean that you should be thinking in those very broad terms when you start to plan a marketing campaign. In fact, often the most profitable markets are quite small ones.
We know that if you are in the Network Marketing or MLM industry, the best market to take your message to is people in the same industry. These are people who have a belief in and an understanding of the industry and how the business model works. You don’t have to ‘sell’ them on the concept of this style of business.
Now, while this in itself is a very targeted niche, your marketing will be all the more powerful if you are able to narrow it down even more. And when you work your business online, search engine marketing creates an environment where you are able to do this.
For example, consider choosing people in the industry in your local area. We have found that narrowing our market down to Australia and New Zealand to be an incredibly powerful strategy, given that we are Australian. Even though this is a global business, people still like to feel that they have a ‘local’ person to partner with.
From a cultural perspective, we have a very sound understanding of our own cultural sensibilities, and are able to adapt the approach we take to sponsoring with Australian and New Zealand prospects accordingly. This is very powerful.
If you are living in a country other than your country of origin, you may (if it is appropriate) consider marketing to your home country, especially if the language is different. You will have a definite edge over a business person who is not bi-lingual, and cannot practically access this market.
You can narrow your niche by age group.
e.g. “Baby boomers learn how to harness the power of the Internet to create a full time income working from home”
Your best bet is to start with your ideal prospect in mind, and then develop your campaign accordingly.
We suggest that you get away from your screen, and take a moment to write down a “dream list” with the qualities you are looking for in a prospective client.
Here is an example of our own dream list:
* Has previously run their own business.
* Has a minimum of $20,000 working capital to get started.
* Is looking for a full time business.
* Is independent.
* Is teachable.
* Is creative.
* Flexibility.
* Solution focussed.
This list represents the ideal qualities we are looking for in new consultants. As you write your list, you will probably find that the person you are looking for will ideally be a lot like you. Someone you can relate to, and who can relate to you. Someone with similar aspirations to you.
Then, start to think about who these people are, and where they might be spending time online. This is where you will want to sharpen up your keyword research, and start to get a feel for whether this represents a market that is worth pursuing. It will also give you some ideas regarding where you might advertise after you have formulated your campaign.
And this is the beauty of online marketing. By using the Google Adwords free analytics tools, you can get a feel for what size your prospective market is.
If you are going to target people from a similar background to you, go back and remember how you first found your opportunity by testing keywords that you used yourself. What were you looking for? What keywords did you type in to find your opportunity or product? Where were you looking when you first started a due diligence on your business?
Really spend the time to consider what is going on inside your ideal prospects head.
People tend to overemphasize technology when they go online, and forget about the psychology of marketing. It is to do yourself a major disservice to not take the time to understand the fundamental and time-honored principles of marketing. No amount of widgets and bells and whistles can replace a sound understanding of what prompts people to respond to an ad, video, article or blog post.
When you have decided on your niche, your next step is to decide what you will say to them when you have their attention.
And this is where there is no substitute for high quality, accurate and honest information. Information that will inform and educate them to the point where they are well positioned to ‘convince’ themselves that what you have to offer is right for them.
