B2B – Single target market – deep analysis

B2B, Marketing, Methodologies, single target market, Value

I keep writing about the Single Target Market on a consistent basis. For any new marketing initiatives this has to be your starting point. As I have mentioned in my posts earlier also, if you’re in the B2B space then this becomes a lot more complex.

The decision making is much more challenging in the B2B space. Depending on the size of the company, the research would be done maybe 2 layers below the actual decision makers.

Now when you think of a Single Target Market in case of B2B, you then need to go deep, to analyze the revenue ranges, the industry, the use cases, the actual people whom you will need to talk to etc.

Once you have mapped the people, roles, you will need to figure out a way to reach them. This is critical because there are both technology gate keepers (like spam filters) and human gate keepers as well. In addition these people already have incumbents who are providing them with similar products or services. So they won’t change their supplier in a hurry.

Which means you will need to have a clear methodology to ensure that you figure out a way to identify the dissonance with the incumbent and then provide value much larger than the incumbent.

By focusing on the Single Target Market you will soon understand the challenges all the customers could be facing with all the incumbents. This will help you get customers faster.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Doing a deep dive for Single Target Market

B2B, Marketing, Product Management, segmentation, single target market

I keep writing about the Single Target Market in many of my posts. I recently also wrote about how you can do a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) if your product is not doing as per expectations.

When you do a RCA, I have noticed most of the times in my case, the challenge has always been in identifying the Single Target Market and defining it clearly.

Since I deal primarily in B2B , its not just about the geography that I need to focus on. Its not just an industry. You have to learn to go deeper to identify to even the level of person you intend to target.

In a recent exercise that I was doing I realized that the level of person my team had to contact was based on the size of company we were targeting. However our services were not good for companies below a certain level of revenue

When we hit the higher level of revenue the level of people we were targeting were not the people looking for a solution to the problem we solve. It was a very tight line for us to figure out. But what came out of this was an even higher appreciation of the advantage of going deep for the Single Target Market.

This concept is like an onion, each layer that you peel, makes you realize what else is beneath the surface.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Single Target Market – Once Again – Testing

B2B, Marketing, Marketing Stamina, messaging, Product Management, single target market

In my post yesterday I wrote about how deep these three words – Single Target Market -are, for a product or marketing manager when they are launching a new product or service.

Even if you have a checklist based on which you identify a Single Target Market, you still need to test if there’s actually a need for your product / service in that market. “You have identified a niche in the market, but is there a market in the niche” I don’t remember where I first read this quote but its absolutely critical.

Before that you will need to test if the message that you are conveying resonates with the market. You will need to test if the medium you are using, actually takes the message to the market which people notice.

So testing, as I emphasised in my posts multiple times earlier also, is absolutely critical for your success. You may do as much analysis sitting on your desk, its only when the “rubber hits the road” that you realise how good your actual planning isarke.

If you have thought through the Single Target Market really well, then you would have also hypothesised about the conversations going on in the mind of the prospects at different stages in the buying cycle. However whether what you have sent out as a message is resonating or needs to fine tuned can only be figured out as you start playing in the market.

Similarly you may decide to send out pamphlets, to the audience, but the audience prefers to see a message on the social media platforms, that also needs to figured out.

Last but not the least – there’s a lead time – for any market to convert. In the case of B2B the lead time is actually very long – sometimes even upto two years. Reason being most B2B buying happens after a lot of effort where multiple departments are involved. So there’s lots of inertia as well as processes that need to be closed before another vendor is brought in. In addition until and unless the incumbent vendor has really messed up, the companies you target will not like to consider someone new. If you have a new technology which the existing vendors don’t provide, they may still consider you, but the process is still very long.

For this you need to have a lot of marketing stamina to not only test but also for conversion of prospects.

So while the Single Target Market can make your market entry strategy very structured, you still need to prepare for doing testing and tweaking your message or your medium.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Single Target Market – Once Again

Marketing, messaging, Product Management, segmentation, single target market

These three words are so deep in their meaning if you are in any way involved with Product Management or Marketing.

While classic marketing talks about identifying a problem in the market and then coming out with a solution. In a lot of cases , especially when it comes to technology marketing, as new technology starts becoming available you work on building new use case scenarios and then going out to the market to sell it.

In these cases you have the ability to fine tune the product for specific markets, but inherently you don’t have the ability to create a brand new product after identifying a product. Start-ups do have the ability to identify niches in the market where problems are unsolved and create from scratch. For most of us who work on the quarter by quarter revenue targets we have to look for the segments which have a problem , that our solution can solve.

For these situations the Single Target Market is the most important item in my view. Its one step deeper than just segmentation which is taught. Here we are also looking at going further down the segmenting exercise with the usage involved.

As an example you may have a product which is a car stereo. Lets assume that it has the ability to connect with 8 speakers and therefore the segment becomes only those cars which have the ability to have 8 speakers. Now if you are getting in new with this product – you can go to the OEM who is making the car and ask them to incorporate it into their car. On the other hand you can take this same car stereo and sell it to the “after market” dealers as a replacement of faulty stereos.

The messaging you have to do to connect with the 2 different types of markets is different. Now lets go to target the “after market” niche further by looking to say a specific state like California to start with, versus looking at a state like Georgia. The accent of the message is totally different. So now you are targeting the auto shops which provide repair services for cars of the luxury kind in a state like Georgia.

Each time I try to do a Single Target Market analysis – I learn a little more about how you can get a finer market to target.

Why is this important – all your advertising, messaging, triggers, the logistics of reaching your market- everything becomes easier and more focussed, which leads us to success.

Till next time then…..

Carpe Diem!!!