Page 34 - Duct Tape Marketing

Identify Your Ideal Client

describing what they ate for dinner on Twitter, but that kind of infor-
mation, while seemingly inane, is marketing gold. Append your entire
customer list with everything you can know through social media and
you will discover more about what motivates and drives your custom-
ers than years of research could ever tell—including which ones wield
influence and love to connect and refer.

What’s the Problem?

Let’s revisit our definition of marketing here—getting people who have
a specific need or problem, to know, like, and trust you.

Without a need or problem, you don’t really have a market. So,
what’s the problem? What are your customers attempting to solve
when they buy your products or retain your services?

I define problem, for our purposes, very broadly to include needs
and wants. A problem may well be getting people’s computers to talk
to each other, but it may also be a burning desire to look good to their
peers. The point is not to necessarily understand or judge what people are
really buying; it’s to identify and acknowledge what you are really selling.
Here’s the cold, hard truth—no matter what you think you are selling
or providing, it is the customer who ultimately determines what you are
selling. You don’t sell goods and services; you sell solutions to problems.

So, what do you really sell? Is it peace of mind? status? pain relief?
State this revelation as bluntly as possible and your marketing business
will benefit immediately.

Location, Location, Location

For some businesses, location is a primary marketing issue. Retail busi-
nesses, for instance, commonly depend on a certain defined trading area

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