Page 40 - Duct Tape Marketing

24 Part I: Getting Started in Marketing

1. Start with your own general impressions to define your customers in
broad terms based on age, education level, ethnic background, income,
marital status, profession, sex, and household size. Answer these ques-
tions about your customers:

• Are they mostly male or female?

• Are they mostly children, teens, young adults, early retirees, or
senior citizens?

• Are they students, college grads, or PhDs?

• What do they do — are they homemakers, teachers, young profes-
sionals, or doctors?

• Are they mostly single, couples with no children at home, heads of
families, grandparents, or recent empty nesters?

2. Break your market into subgroups, perhaps categorized by the kinds of
products purchased or the time of year they do business with you.

A restaurant that analyzes its weekday lunchtime clientele and patrons of
its dinner business might learn that the products draw customers with
dramatically different demographic profiles. As a result, the restaurant
may realize that its weekday lunch hour clientele is comprised mostly of
businesspeople from the nearby area, whereas the dinner traffic is largely
tourist families. This may lead to development of two very different and
highly targeted promotions: a 50 minutes or it’s free lunchtime offer aimed
at the nearby business community and promoted through the chamber of
commerce newsletter or some other low-cost local business publication;
and a Kids under 7 eat free offer aimed at tourists and promoted through
hotel desk clerks and local visitor publications.

3. Verify your answers by asking your customers.

You can incorporate questions into information conversations you have
during inquiry and sales contacts. Table 2-1, earlier in this chapter, out-
lines a list of information-collection options.

Psychographics: Customer buying behaviors

Knowing where your customer is and the statistical facts about who your cus-
tomer is give you the information you need to select the right communication
vehicles to carry your marketing messages. As you decide what to say and how
to present your message, you also want to know as much as you can about the
attitudes, beliefs, purchasing patterns, and behaviors of your customers. This
information helps you form marketing messages that interest your prospects
and motivate them to buy from you.