Single Target Market – by pain points

B2B, Marketing, segmentation, single target market

I have written about identifying different niches in the market based on the usage. Today’s post will be a little longer than the usual posts because I will showcase two clear applications with examples.

For example maybe your product or service can be targeted at the replacement market or it could be targeted at the OEM market. if you are a tyre manufacturer you can get specialised by cars, two wheelers, trucks, off road etc.Then you can device another niching strategy based on going to the OEMs who manufacture these products. These manufacturers would buy in bulk. Here you don’t need to advertise in the mass market. You need to be closely aligned with the OEM so that when they design new products, they consider your tyres. This is a B2B play.

On the other hand another strategy could be targeting the replacement market. Now you could have a B2C strategy where you are targeting individuals who need to replace their tyres in their old vehicles. To be able to get mind share you will need to advertise rigorously to ensure that you stay top of the mind when someone needs to replace their tyres. On the other hand you could target fleet owners who have to maintain a large fleet. These would be B2B buyers and the method of targeting them would be completely different.

Today I came across another way to look at the idea of a single target market. Its by identifying the pain and retooling the product slightly or retooling the packaging. A very common example of this is the concept of sachets for shampoos which got pioneered in India by the FMCG companies. About 20 years back there was a company in south India, which made shampoos, which did not have a brand as well known as the Uniilevers or the P&G. They recognised the fact that poor ladies in India wanted to wash their hair (typically long hair) but did not have the budget to buy a big bottle of shampoo. Other than the budget they did not have the place to keep the bottle after taking bath because they would take bath in public washrooms.

They came out with a plastic sachet of the shampoo at a cost of Rupee 1/- (about 2 cents at that time) with just enough shampoo for one wash for the ladies. This suddenly became a rage and the volumes of this company grew dramatically. Soon all the MNCs had to copy the idea and come out with equivalent sachets for their shampoos.

Now while the original plan was for the single target as ladies who could not afford the full bottle, another segment which had pain was travelling salesmen who could not carry a bottle of shampoo with them while they were on tours. A lot of the hotels they stayed in did not provide for shampoos. So this became another market that these companies started targeting.

So you could even see the resistance points to the consumption of your product and find the pain in the market to penetrate another segment.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Doing the medium, market, message map – 2

campaign, content, Marketing, media, medium, messaging, single target market

In the previous post on this topic, I had given my views on why starting with the medium first is not a good idea. As a matter of fact a lot of people may give a lot of focus on the message also. No doubt creating the message (all kind of content) is a creative capability and requires skill but sending an amazing message to the wrong audience will be ineffective.

Let’s take a few examples, to showcase my logic.

Suppose you were selling lingerie but your database or list of people to whom you were sending the message was primarily men, there’s quite a big chance that the campaign would not be successful.

Suppose you were selling diet pills for men and your database primarily had women and lean men, would you be able to sell a lot of packages of your diet pills.

In both the the above examples you may have some success either because the amazing message you wrote got the spouses buying somethings or relatives buying something but it would not be what you are actually looking for.

On the other hand even a mediocre message to the right list will get a large response. This is not to underscore the importance of copy. It is however important to emphasize the importance of identifying clearly the single target market that you’re focusing on.

Hope I have been able to place my viewpoint clearly over the last 2 posts. I would to hear if there are any counter arguments that any of you have to the logic I have placed. Please list your comments below.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Doing the medium – market, message match

campaign, compelling, ideal customer, Marketing, medium, messaging, single target market

A lot of times I get to hear, we want to run a video campaign, or email campaign or we want to start a podcast. People start with the medium first, which in my opinion is the wrong sequence of actions. The first thing that need’s to be determined is the “market / ideal customer”. Where is the Single Target Market that you want to focus on. Once you have determined that piece then you figure out the messages / content you want to give to that audience and then you find the vehicle (the medium) to take that message / content.

Each message / piece of content, has a “job” (job of the milkshake , Clayton Christensen) to do. One message could be get the person to raise their hand, another could be to educate the prospects, some could be to compel the prospects to buy.

Now based on the message that you are trying to give out to your audience, you can choose the medium. Choosing a medium which the market does not access will be disastrous for your message and overall marketing plan.

As an example , if your audience is doing a lot of commute then a podcast or a video both could be good. But if you realise that within that audience which does commute there are people who commute on bicycles or drive cars then a video is not a good idea. A podcast could be a better idea. For example, I do a lot of commute, where I am driving my car. And giving me company are different podcasts, some of which I refer over here as well. If someone was to direct me to watch a video, to educate me while I was driving, I would not look at it and it would be a waste.

So when you choose to either do a campaign or plan an activity related to marketing, always start with the audience of one – see what is happening in the life of that one person from the Single Target Market that you defined, and then how you will reach out to her with whatever is the focus of the messaging that you intend.

Till next time then

Carpe Diem!!!

Messaging – how much is excess

B2B, education, education, follow-up, Marketing, messaging

“Won’t my prospect get irritated with me and unsubscribe” – this is one of the most common statements I hear when I tell people, that they should have a regular communication with their prospects and customers.

All your prospects and customers are in a state of a “moving parade”. So things keep changing for people all the time. And you don’t know when they may need what you sell. But when they need you, they should remember you first.

Now there will be somethings which are impulse purchases like a bottle of wine. Or small value items like a can of an aerated drink. Since the volume of transactions can be very high because of the spread of the decision making, you want to message more often. That’s the reason you see a Coke getting advertised multiple times a day. In the consumer space, you travel- international , less often, so you see airlines advertising less often.

In case of B2B, which is generally high value and less impulsive, you don’t advertise/message multiple times a day. But having said that, you need to keep messaging frequently – I generally recommend once a week. If not, at least twice a month. Anything less than this and chances are that you will float into oblivion.

The key in B2B is more about providing value. Finding ways to inform the customer, something new about what you offer – a new application, a new industry, a faster method, training for their employees. If you have segmented your market well, then you would typically know the kind of challenges that could take place, so providing education, value would be simpler. There can be a plethora of ways you can orient messages and multiple ways to get them delivered. Sometimes email, sometimes post cards, sometimes webinars.

If you keep adding value, then customers / prospects generally don’t mind receiving your mails and in a lot of cases may look forward to them. If some do unsubscribe, even after you are providing value / education, then its a good sign – because that person anyway would not have done business with you.

So don’t think in terms of excess, think in terms of value.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!