Page 38 - Duct Tape Marketing

22 Part I: Getting Started in Marketing

opinions about such delicate areas as customer service or pricing, use a
professional facilitator who is experienced in managing group dynamics
so that a single dominant participant doesn’t steer the group outcome.

To seek outside assistance, contact research firms, advertising agencies, mar-
keting firms, and public-relations companies. Explain what you’re trying to
accomplish and ask whether they can either do the research for you or direct
you toward the right resources.

Another good starting point is your Small Business Development Center,
often located at a community college or university. To find a nearby center,
visit the Small Business Association Web site at www.sba.gov/sbdc and click
on the “Your Nearest SBDC” button.

Geographics: Locating your market areas

The fact that you can be located in Rome, Georgia, and serve customers in
Rome, Italy, doesn’t necessarily make the Eternal City a target market for
your business. To target your market geographically, you need to ask, “Where
am I most likely to find potential customers, and where am I most apt to
inspire enough sales to offset my marketing investment?” To help you answer
these questions, here’s some advice:

ߜ Start with the addresses of your existing customers: Wherever you
have a concentration of existing customers, you also have a concentra-
tion of potential customers. Those are the areas where you should direct
your advertising efforts and money.

ߜ Follow your inquiries: Inquiries are customers waiting to happen. They
are consumers whose interest you’ve aroused and whose radar screens
you have managed to pop onto, even though they haven’t yet made the
decision to purchase your product or service. The addresses of your
inquiries will define target geographic areas where people have demon-
strated interest in the products and services you offer. Your first objective
should be to convert inquiry interest into buying action (see Chapter 17
for inquiry-to-customer conversion information). At the very least, your
inquiry follow-up efforts will help you find out why prospects didn’t buy,
and that information may help you retool your product, pricing, distribu-
tion, or communications.

ߜ Locate your noncustomers: Identify geographic areas with concentra-
tions of people who have the attributes of your current customers but
who don’t yet buy from you. These are noncustomers who are also
potential customers. By discovering regions where these prospects live,
you also discover areas for potential market expansion.