The essence of marketing is to attract customers to a business. Good customers are okay, great customers are best. Every business wants customers just like their best ones.
All it takes is a simple three-step approach.
Firstly, have a look at your ‘best’ customers. Do a simple survey to find the common thread between them reviewing such things as age, sex, occupation, income, reading habits, number of children, how they first heard of you, why they chose your business, etc. Industry specific questions should also be included.
For example a Motor Mechanic should include car make and model, where a teen market-clothing retailer wants to know average sizes and magazines commonly purchased.
The second step is the analysis of the data. Sounds difficult but it’s not. Simply count up each specific category and review.
An example here is a Donut Shop may find 70% of customers are women, aged between 30 – 40, with 2 children aged under 6, live locally, work part-time, who chose your store because they saw the colourful neon light you have as they walked past.
Now you know who constitutes your main customers.
The third step is to find where your targets are, and what are they doing, through research, demographic analysis and general digging.
This information is freely available from your local library (or on the Internet) – information as precise as 30% of residents in postcode 1234 are females aged between 30 – 40.
Hopefully you asked what they read, how they spend their time and what their major interests are.
Target your customers with laser-like accuracy
Now you know what ‘type’ of people they are you can target them with laser-like accuracy. The results will amaze you.
As for the Donut Shop: cancel the newspaper ads, make the neon sign bigger, take free samples up for morning tea at the local playgroup, have comfortable tables and chairs, scatter a few toys around the shop and run a special offer: Free coffee with every two donuts.
You’ve cut your marketing costs in half and doubled your sales! Now that’s effective marketing research.
Cheers
