Page 74 - Social Media Marketing

54 Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

undertapped markets-opportunities you may have not yet con-
sidered.

In this chapter, I encourage you to become more sensitive to
diversity in your farm area and provide you with the information
and guidance you need to appeal to diverse clientele.

Exploring Different Demographics

Your farm area is probably populated by a variety of people-people
of different generations, genders, ethnicities, beliefs, and lifestyles.
Chances are very good that your marketing materials either are
overly generic or target a very narrow demographic. If this is the
case, you could be missing the mark (or more appropriately, missing
the market) with various groups of prospective clients. Chances are
also very good that your competitors have missed the mark as
well, leaving the field wide open. By targeting these underserved
customers, you can often win over a huge segment of the market
that you and your competitors have neglected.

In the following sections, I describe some of the common charac-
teristics of various demographic groups, so you can adapt your mar-
keting and sales presentations to appeal to each group. By adapting
your strategies and techniques, you will be better able to serve
market segments that traditionally have been neglected: specific
generations, people who are disabled, underserved racial or ethnic
groups, and global markets.

Identifying Generational Differences

Every individual is different, so you cannot realistically say that
everyone from a particular generation is going to act a certain way,
choose the same lifestyle, or share the same dreams. However, just
as people who grow up under the same roof have certain similari-
ties, people who grow up during the same era tend to share some
common traits and preferences.

Salespeople often focus on clientele who are part of their own
generation. After all, it is easier to sell something when you are