Three Ms of Marketing - Message

Several million consumers every year buy electric drills. The amazing thing about this is that none of them want a drill. That’s right. They could care less about the drill. What they want is a hole. The drill, like most products, is a means to an end. Consumers buy products to get something. In order to craft a selling message you have to understand what they want to get. You have to “sell the hole.”

What we mean by “selling the hole” is determining what the customer really hopes to gain by purchasing a product. For instance, the purchaser of an e-book on starting a home business wants to make money, to gain independence from a boss, to obtain financial security, and probably to be able to spend more time with their families..

In crafting a message for such a book, you would want to focus on how that book will help them achieve those goals.

He it means focusing on the benefits of the product rather than on its features. What's the difference? A product's features have to do with the construction of the product independent of their use. Using the drill as an example, a feature might be that the drill has a half horsepower motor. Okay, that's nice to know, but what does it mean to me the person who wants to drill a hole? The benefit of a product is how that feature will help me as a consumer achieve my goal. For instance, the reason that the half horsepower motor is important may be that it helps me drilled a hole faster and makes it possible to drill through tougher materials.

So, how do you apply this to your own marketing effort? Start by looking at the that you already have. Do they focus on features and benefits? Use a highlighter and highlight each line which specifically indicates how this product will enhance the life of the end user. What's left over? Get rid of it. Consider the following hypothetical ad for that e-book about starting a home business:

Get It Now! Grow Mushrooms in Your Own Basement! New Book Tells You How! Make Big Bucks in Dark Corners!

That's right! This book will tell you all you need to know to start a home business growing mushrooms in your basement. Learn how to choose the right soil, how to get the mushrooms to grow, what type of fertilizer to use, how to hire helpers, how to contact restaurants to sell your product, and how to contact retail grocers for sustaining business.

Don’t Delay! Get Started in the Fungus Business Today!

There is only one benefit mentioned in that entire ad. Can you spot it? That's right. "Make big bucks in dark corners". Everything else does you what the book is like but it doesn't tell you how it will help you. So, let's look at what this would look like as a benefit oriented ad.

Make big bucks in dark corners! Become your own boss growing mushrooms in your own basement!

Escape the 9-to-5 trap! Tell your boss goodbye. Learn how to get into the fascinating, profitable business of growing mushrooms. Whether portobello or button, these little veggies can pave your path to financial independence. Work your own hours. Be at home with your family. Earn a fantastic income. This book tells you how. Learn how to grow the mushrooms, how to sell them, and how to get other people to work for you!

Don’t work for THE MAN any longer than you have to! Change your future today!

The difference between these two ads is that one focuses on what the product is and the second on how the product advances the goals of the customer. So, remember, when marketing your products. Don’t sell the drill. Sell the hole.

Three Ms of Marketing - Media Match

Let’s say you have decided that your target market is middle-class women aged 50-65 years old. Would you spend all your money advertising during the telecasts of college football games? Why not? Women in that age bracket do not form a major portion of the football watching public. Of course, that is an overgeneralization. But good demographic analysis depends on generalizations. While I would not assume than any individual woman 50-65 doesn’t watch football, I can reasonably assume that as a group they do not.

When you choose a media mix for marketing your product or service, you have to make a good match between the medium and the market. To do this you have to do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask your advertising representative for a demographic analysis of their audience. Local radio and television stations usually have Arbitron or Nielson ratings. Newspapers have circulation reports.

But don’t just look to see who has the largest number of viewers, listeners or readers. Find out who those viewers, listeners and readers are. If you have a product, targeting women 45-65, even if the hip-hop station has the largest audience of all the local stations, it will not be effective for you. The Number 3 easy listening station might be a better choice. This is why identifying your target market is the first step in the marketing process.

But age and gender aren’t the only considerations. Also think about economic factors like household income and occupation. I worked at a classical music station. We had a small audience, but our mailing list included most of the high income people in town. Consequently, we had the Cadillac dealership and two high –end furniture stores as satisfied customers. Likewise, if your product or service targets a particular business, consider advertising in trade magazines, newsletters and web sites which serve that business.

For the most part, a little common sense is all you need to match the media to the market. 

Three Ms of Marketing - Market

You have a great product, but no one seems to be buying it. The problem could be with marketing. Many business owners are great at producing a product, but not so good at marketing them. In this column we will be discussing marketing your business.

Let’s begin with the basics of marketing. I call these the three “M’s” of marketing. They are: Market, Media and Message. This month we will be discussing the first “M” – Market.

The first question you should ask yourself in marketing your product or service is “Who is likely to buy this?” That is your market. Unfortunately, when I ask some business people this question, they answer, “Everyone.” Sorry, no one product appeals to everyone. If you try to sell your product to everyone, you will waste most of your advertising dollar. You will buy advertising in places that do not reach your best customers.

It’s simple. Ask yourself one question: “Who buys this type of product?” That’s who you want to reach. Create a profile of that customer.

Your profile should include the following information:

• Age group. Try to keep the age range limited. Typical age demographics are 12-18, 18-25, 25-40, 40-55, 55-65, 65-75, 75+. Age determines interests, tastes, needs, and media preferences.
• Gender. While you want to avoid stereotyping, you do need to recognize the differing needs of the sexes. Some products are of equal value to both genders, but one buys that product more than the other. For instance, groceries are bought primarily by women, even though, men and women equally use the product.
• Occupation. Does your product or service benefit a certain occupation or type of occupation or business? Who would make the buying decisions for that business? It is no good targeting the CEO, if the secretary handles purchasing.
• Income level. I remember being in an investment seminar surrounded by blue and pink collar workers listening to an investment counselor talking about a great investment that had a $20,000 buy in. No one in that room had that much money to invest. You don’t sell high end products to low income people.
• Special interests. Do the people who use your product engage in some sort of special activity or hobby? Are there special interests groups who do not currently use your product who might benefit from it?
• Media habits. What do these people read, watch, or listen to on the radio? Do they surf the web? If so, what places do they go?

You may discover in reviewing your customer list that more than one type of person purchases your product. Create a profile for each type of customer. Be as specific as possible. This is important because you will refer to these profiles as you choose the media for your marketing and as you craft your message.

The Key to Website Traffic - Content, Content, Content

 Many people seem to think that the key to building traffic at their site is to be found in getting listed in all the top search engines in the top 10 of each engine. Or they think that having banners all over the Internet will just draw people from everywhere. Certainly, advertising and promotion are helpful, but I'm afraid this is not "field of dreams" if you build it, you have no guarantee thy will come just because it's there and they know about it. They will only come if the content is interesting to them.

Think about it this way, a business opens up in a high traffic area of your local mall. You go by the mall looking for, say, new clothes. The new store sells buggy whips. Do you go into the store just because it is on the mall? Probably not, unless you are in the market for a new buggy whip. Considering how many buggy's we have around, it is unlikely that store will last long regardless of it's high traffic location.

So it is with a web page. You have to offer compelling content to draw visitors in the first place, and to keep them coming back again.

One of the keys to good content in any type of publishing is summed up in a simple statement "Find a hole and fill it." For instance, I saw a need for an on-line daily devotion about six years ago. At the time no one I knew was providing one. I had been delivering one via e-mail for two years, then I started posting it on my web site eventually we added Bible studies and other materials and soon the website was drawing more than a half-million hits a year.

In creating content you really need to think like a web surfer. A lot of people create web sites thinking "This is what I want to put up on the site." What's wrong with that? Nothing, if you are planning on being the only one to visit that site. But if you want to attract people to your site you have to think like the Web Surfer you are trying to reach. Like I tell my magazine writing students "Think about the reader first, last and always. " So, don't think about what do I want to say. Think about how do I get them to listen.

The first rule in creating compelling content is that you have to clearly identify who you are trying to reach. If you say, "Everybody," then you are sure to fail. You need to have a clear target audience. The better defined your audience the easier it is to reach them with your message and to draw them to your site.

 So, if I have a commercial site trying to sell computers, who are the likely folk to come by? Well, they will fall into two categories: people who have their own computers (the majority) and those who use someone else's computer. Since the largest number of people fall into the first category, then I might target that audience. Now, I ask myself why would someone who already has a computer want to buy another. The answers are (a) The computer they have is inadequate for what they need. (b) Their computer is out of date and needs to be upgraded. (c) The person is a tech-head who always wants the latest in computer technology (d) The person is in charge of purchasing computers for a business and wants the best product at the best price. or (e) The person wants to buy a computer as a gift for someone else. You could target any of these markets. But let's say we are going after categories a and b. The computer is inadequate or out of date. If you create a web site with a lot of forms, frames, graphics, and flash and other bells and whistles, they will exit your site before it even loads and forget about oming back.

In your advertising and search engine descriptions, you need to get across the idea that one cannot stand still with technology. You could focus your advertising on Classified ad sites and swap meet type of newsgroups that allow advertising. You could also post notices around a local college or buy advertising in the college newspaper pointing the students to your site.

All of these would keep the focus on the needs of the market you are trying to reach. If you wanted to reach one or more of the other markets you should start from scratch with a new web page and new promotion geared toward that market. 

 Yes, it's a lot of work but to draw people to your site you have to be constantly working on your content.