Know What You Need

Written by Drew McLellan
on October 3rd, 2007 / Leave a Comment / Print this

Every business wants to generate new business. That’s the commonality. But that’s just about all that’s the same.

Some sell high-ticket or very specialized items and services. They only need a handful of new clients to meet their goals. Others are all about volume. They have a large ability to deliver quantities of their offerings and they want the pipeline full.

This is where the “one size fits all” marketing theories fall apart.

The high-ticket/specialty client can and should spend more money per client acquisition. Their efforts need to be about honing in on exactly the right prospects. They are likely to spend more money on profiling prospects to make sure they don’t waste a lot of time talking to buyers who have no interest or no ability to buy their wares.

Once they’ve identified “the who,” they can get down to telling their story. Because the numbers are small, the marketing tactics that most often make sense for them are ones that allow them to speak directly to those potential buyers and no one else. Direct mail, opt-in e-zines, topic specific blogs, niche newspapers or TV shows and peer-to-peer referrals are all effective options.

On the flip side, the volume-focused client’s goal is to reach a much wider audience. They’re willing to catch a few undesirables in their net, as long as they can harvest a lot of prospects all at once.

Because a wider group of people fit their target parameters, they don’t need to invest in a lot of prospect profiling. They’re looking for a wide reach and frequency to encourage that initial trial. Tactics that might fit the bill for these marketers include couponing, mass media (newspaper, radio, TV, outdoor) advertising, product placement and sampling.

Which set of tactics fits what you really need?