Ellis Communications, L.L.C.

You Can't Hit It Because You Don't Know Where You're Aiming!
Marketing Without A Target Market Is A Bad Bet

      Would you make a $5,000 bet? What if you didn't know what you were betting on? What if you didn't know what you had to do to win the bet?

      "I'm guessing your answer to this proposition is a resounding no," says Martin R. Baird, president of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Nutritional Marketing. "Nevertheless, I see nutritional retailers bet $5,000 or more on marketing ideas that cannot hit the target. They won't get the desired response for a very simple reason. The person doing the marketing has never identified their target market."

      Baird offers nutritional professionals the following tips on target marketing.

      Tip No. 1. Businesses that are successful invest the time, energy and money to define a specific market that they want to work with and that needs their products and services. This may not be a fun project on the front end, but it pays huge dividends over time.

      Tip No. 2. Defining your target market makes all your marketing decisions easier. "You know what the headlines on your marketing materials should be because you know what your target market wants," Baird says. "You know which publications to advertise in because you know what your target market reads."

      Tip No. 3. You can have more than one target market. "You could have a few depending on specific solutions that you have and the people who need them," Baird notes.. "But it's important to limit your targets so you can attack them in an organized, strategic manner."

      Tip No. 4. Those who do not have a well-defined target market waste money spreading their message to people who will never use their products or services. The more tightly defined your market is, the easier it will be to reach your ideal prospect more often and directly.

      Tip No. 5. When you're defining your target market, it's all about how you slice the data or group. "This can be done in a couple of ways," Baird says. "The most common way to identify your target is with demographic information - the standard age, income, sex and location data. Another way to separate potential customers into a target market is by activities or hobbies. This can be a very strong method for identifying people with similar needs and desires. These prospects are not all the 'same' but they. do have at least some similar characteristics."

Nutritionalmarketing.com is the premiere Internet-based source for free marketing advice, information and tools for self-driven, success-oriented nutritional retailers who are demanding information that helps them market their business, meet the needs of their customers and increase sales.  It offers such services as a free weekly electronic newsletter, free reports on how to conduct different kinds of marketing and evaluation of retailers’ marketing materials that is provided at no charge when the critique is posted online for all nutritional professionals to read.  Nutritionalmarketing.com also offers an electronic forum where retailers can learn from each other by discussing common problems, sharing ideas and gaining new insights from their peers. 

Nutritional Marketing may be reached at 480-991-6421.