How Marketing to Fewer People Can Get You More Sales

We all tend to want more... more money, more customers, more everything. The truth is that targeting your marketing more narrowly can actually make you more successful.

I recently read a post on MarketingProfs.com (an online marketing discussion forum) from someone who was starting an event planning company. She wanted to host weddings, birthdays, networking events for professionals, and parties for singles.

She was looking for help with a name for the company, since she was having a hard time thinking of one. It's going to be hard to fit all of that under one name, and when she tries to market the company, the problems will get worse.

She's "spraying and praying" — spinning around in a circle and hoping to hit something. The marketing for professional networking events would have to be very different than the marketing for weddings.

Small business owners read different magazines, e-newsletters, and visit different Web sites than brides and grooms-to-be. The first group belongs to BNI, the second subscribes to The Knot (bridal newsletter). They have completely different problems, and need different solutions. Marketing aimed at small businesses is irrelevant to brides, and vice versa.

Sell to a Niche, Not to Everyone


Trying to be all things to all people will lead to fewer sales, not more. Instead, find a specific group of people that wants what you sell. Ignore the people that don't.

Remember the wedding dress challenge on the Apprentice? The two teams, Apex and Mosaic, were competing to see who could earn the most money selling wedding dresses. Apex team members stood in Grand Central Station in NY handing out flyers. handed out flyers in Grand Central Station. Mosaic contracted with a bridal Web site to send out an email to their subscribers.

Approximately 500,000 people pass through Grand Central every day, but most of those people have no clear interest or need for a bridal gown. The email reached a much smaller audience of 23,000 people — but they were people (and only people) who were brides-to-be looking for a wedding gown.

Which team won? Mosaic had a whopping $12,788.94 profit, but Apex fell far short with only $1,064.47.


Jodi Kaplan fixes "broken" marketing. If your marketing is costing more money than it's making and people leave your Web site without buying, your marketing is broken. If you'd like to fix it, visit http://www.kaplancopy.com for free articles, marketing resources, and information on marketing services.
To get your free 25-page Small Business Marketing Guide, visit http://www.kaplancopy.com/free_guide.html.

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