Page 72 - Duct Tape Marketing

56 Part I: Getting Started in Marketing

4. Change competitive levels if necessary. If you decide that your busi-
ness would be better off competing with more visible and prestigious
businesses in your arena, commit to making the changes necessary to
get the market to see you through new eyes. See Chapter 7 for informa-
tion on influencing market perceptions and winning your chosen place
in your marketplace.

Calculating Your Market Share

Having a sense of your market share gives you a good indication of your com-
petitive rank. It also provides a way to monitor the growth of your business
within your target market.

Sizing up your target market

To calculate your share of the market, first define the size of the market in
which you compete.

The total market includes the entire nation or world — a market area that
matters enormously to such major marketers as Nike, Levi’s, General Motors,
Citibank, or other internationally known brand names.

But to a small business like yours, what matters is your target market — the
one within the sphere of your business’s influence. You can assess the size of
your target market by using the following criteria:

ߜ Geographic targeting: Where are your customers? For example, a
retailer may determine that its geographic target market consists pri-
marily of people who live or vacation within a two-hour drive of the
retailer’s place of business. An accountant may determine that her geo-
graphic target market is concentrated within the city limits.

ߜ Customer targeting: Rather than consider the full market (or world)
population as your potential market, determine which people actually fit
your customer profile. (See Chapter 2 for profiling information.) A golf
course community developer, for instance, may determine that its target
market includes only high-income golfers aged 50 and over who live in
the surrounding three-state region. An office furniture manufacturer may
target all of the nation’s office-furnishing retail establishments, along
with architects and interior designers who specify office furnishings.
An online florist may focus exclusively on wedding planners and brides-
to-be. (See Chapter 16 for tips on defining Web customers.)