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I was having dinner with friends last night and we got on to the conversation of focus for marketing (we’re all business owners) and we had some of the classic responses come up. Perhaps some of these will ring a bell for you when you consider the possibility of focusing on just one type of client for your upcoming promotional activity:
- But I don’t JUST do that, I do so many other things too.
- That is only a part of our business, we can offer the full package.
- We have 3 main things we offer but we can also look after the whole lot for a client, meaning they don’t have to think about it.
- Why would I want to pick just ONE when I do so much more than that?
If you’re resonating with these comments then you are not alone – you are in fact among the majority of businesses.
BUT this is where you can step up your game, be different and make some big differences for your business.
My suggestion is that when you answer as above, then you are in a fear state. What do I mean by that? I mean that you are in a mindset that is fearful of possible negative outcomes and so you are not thinking as rationally as you would if you could step out of that fear feeling.
The funny thing is that you probably don’t even think that it is a fear response… surely it’s logical to supply a service to lots of clients? That way you get a bigger piece of the pie?
To a certain extent I agree with you, but this is not going to be useful to you when it comes to getting your message out and attracting lots of lovely new clients.
Consider this:
+ You’re getting married. Do you feel that you’d be drawn more to the person who’s website shows that they do photos of everything under the sun and has no main specialism or would you be attracted to the photographer who specialises in weddings and creating the best wedding photos, albums etc?
+ You’re wanting to lose weight and are looking for a personal trainer to help you. Do you think you’d choose the trainer that specialises in muscle building or maybe is a pretty general PT or would it in fact make much more sense to find someone who specialises in weight loss and has a stream of testimonials from happy clients who have achieved what you want to with this person.
It’s a total no brainer. Unless you already have a relationship with another provider, you are going to go with the ‘expert’ or ‘specialist’ every time because you know that they are the most likely to deliver the results that you are looking for.
Look at some of the bigger companies:
- Dove – skincare specialists
- Neals Yard Remedies – organic skincare specialists
- Carluccio’s – Italian food
- Primark – cheap, fashionable clothing
- The Cornish Pasty Co – funnily enough specialise in Cornish pasties
- Millies Cookies – cookies
- Pandora – jewellery
I could go on, and on! All of the companies above offer lots of different products but you’ll find that they have one thing that they are known for predominantly and this is what draws people in. Once you’re in the store or website you can see the other offerings and buy them if you want and you will also remember what else is on offer and be able to go back again later to get more when required.
Each of these businesses will attract a different type of person. You can get pizza from Carluccio’s and you can get pizza from Pizza Hut – both deliver the same item and are an eat-in restaurant, but they do it in different ways and the marketing for each is completely different, as is the experience in the restaurants.
Your customers are just the same. If you own a hotel with a golf club and spa then you will need to have different adverts in different places for each aspect of the business. For example:
- Advert 1 – golf breaks – in golf break magazines
- Advert 2 – golf memberships – local adverts in local parish mags etc
- Advert 3 – spa breaks – in women’s magazines and online spa directories
And you can go even deeper:
Pamper days can be broken down and advertised in specific areas:
- Pregnancy pamper day would be in pregancy magazines, online forums and posters in local cafes, Doctor surgeries and other places pregnant mums congregate.
- Mother and daughter pamper day – this could be a big push for Mother’s Day with an offer (a great reason to BUY NOW)
- Bride to be pamper day – you’d advertise this at wedding fairs, in wedding publications and online wedding groups etc
And so you see, this is just a small example of focused marketing and I’m sure you can agree that a specific advert, as above, would be much more effective, when placed in the right location, than a generic advert promoting ‘golf, golf breaks, spa days and more’ in a generic publication.
If you look hard enough at your business (this is when being the ‘Queen of Your Brand’ comes in) you will find ONE thing that you want to be know for and this should be at the forefront of all your promotions. It might well be an alien concept for you at this stage but it will be the making of your brand when you make a start with this.
Look at Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Coke, Pampers…. they ALL do it! So why on earth would it not work for you too? These are companies that spend millions and billions in brand strategy and marketing and are at the top of the business food chain. You don’t have to spend the same money to learn from what is working for them and tweaking it to work for your business too.
‘Modelling’ like this applies in all aspects of life. If you want to be an olympic athelte then you need to think and act like one. And there’s no better way to do that than to find an athelete you want to be like and to copy what they do until you’re great like them too.
In business we have inspirational business people like Richard Branson, Anita Roddick, Coco Chanel, Oprah, Tony Robbins and many more – all of which you can read their books, listen to their audios, watch their videos and learn about how they live their lives and so ‘model’ (copy and incorporate into your life) them and their behaviours and by default become more like them along the way.
So as you would model people for your own development, you can model successful companies to achieve bigger and better things for your business.
Getting back to the focus part. There’s a great saying that ‘where the focus goes the energy flows’ and it is so very true. Whatever you focus on in your business, you will get more of. So if you’re focusing on attracting a real mishmash of customers because you have no focus, that’s what you’re going to get.
If you take a bold step and focus on the one type of client that you would love to work with every day then you will attract more of those clients.
I would ask you this: Why would you want to attract clients that you don’t really want, when you can attract the clients you dream of in a much more effective and fun way!?
With your sensible hat on you just wouldn’t, right?
Yet, when you have your fearful hat on, the panic kicks in and instead of focusing on the positive, you instead focus on the negative ‘OMG, what if I then get NO ONE!’ – which of course is nonsense, as you’ve already agreed above.
Do you know what’s EVEN BETTER about all this?
You don’t have to do anything drastic to test it out!
You can dip your toe in the water and see if it’s the temperature that makes for a good swim. Try it with the next advert that you do, or flier that you print.
Consider the following:
- Who am I aiming this at SPECIFICALLY
- What PAIN am I taking away OR what SOLUTION am I providing for them?
- What do I want them to DO next (Call To Action)
If you do the above and then, and here is the crux of it, distribute them WHERE YOUR CLIENT ACTUALLY IS (another huge benefit of being specific is that you know where to target), then as long as you have used wording and design that will be attractive to your Ideal Client and you’ve clearly told them what action steps to take, you will find that the people who you’re aiming at will get in touch.
This is just touching on this subject, in fact I have 2 modules in the 30 Days To Awesome Branding course that cover this in much greater detail, but hopefully you get the idea and will start trying out being SPECIFIC and being FOCUSED in your own business and with your marketing.
Once you start you’ll kick yourself for not doing it sooner! : )
Let me know how you’re getting on and your thoughts on this below.
