Determining your target market

Knowing your market is essential for effective PR, marketing and sales. Market research permeates every facet of business. You must remember who you’re talking to as you describe your business to them.

You need to know from the very beginning who your customers will be. Many people have a problem focusing on a specific market, and consequently waste a lot of time and effort attracting people who will never buy from them.

When building a company brand, you should direct your energy and strategy toward the segment of the market you have identified as the most likely to purchase your product or utilise your service. Then you need to ask yourself a few key questions that will help you develop the type of image that will attract these people:
• What is the lifestyle of my customers?
• What are their buying habits?
• Are they budget-conscious?
• Where do they live?
• What features do customers like about my product(s)?
• What features do customers like about my competitor’s products?
• What benefits do my competitors list in their promotional material?
• What benefits does my product have that gives my company a competitive advantage?
• How are my competitors’ promotional materials designed? What colours are they using? What typefaces are they using?
• What type of packaging are my competitors using?
• What is the pricing like in the market I am targeting?

Image is everything

I have seen so many small businesses develop a great business idea, do the research into their target markets etc but then fall down when it comes to their image. Many come across unprofessional because they didn’t want to put budget towards a professional logo or business card.

A business card says a great deal about a business, and it is often the first and only thing a potential customer sees. These days, you can do a lot of creative things with business cards, if you have help from a good artist and printer. They will also incorporate your special message and logo onto letterhead, pamphlets and brochures.

In general, if you want to convey the image of a “no-nonsense” operation, keep your printed materials subdued and businesslike. They don’t have to be boring, however – use a quality stock paper, make your logo prominent, and use a bold typeface.

If your business is less formal and more “fun”, then you should probably be a little more creative. Use brightly colored paper stock, or try a foil stamp to add some excitement.

Building an image takes time and careful planning. If you know who your audience is, and what they want from you, you are ahead of the game. The next step – defining what your image should be – involves taking a good look at your business, and deciding how it would best fit in the marketplace.

The final step – establishing your image – is an ongoing process. Remember that any time you distribute printed materials, appear and speak in public, or produce any visual aids or events, you are helping to project and maintain the image you desire.

Asking PR agencies the right questions

So you have decided you would like to use a PR agency for your business. Firstly look at the types of clients the agency represents. If the firm only handles very large accounts, you might need to look elsewhere. You also need to consider whether there will be a conflict of interest if the PR agency is handling a competitor of yours.

Find out how long various clients have used the agency. Do they have a fair number of clients with whom they have long relationships? Or do they have an unusually high rate of client turnover? If so, the clients may not have received the results they expected from the agency.

If an agency seems promising, talk to some of its current and former clients and ask them for their opinion of it. Did they receive the personal attention they wanted? Were they made to feel important to the agency? Did they feel that they always knew everything the agency was planning for their campaign? Did the costs justify the results?

After you’ve found two or three agencies which seem suitable, set up a meeting with an account executive at each agency. Be sure to ask for the executive who would service your account. You could speak to a smooth-talking, personable representative and end up working with an unenthusiastic, overworked executive who is more interested in serving some of his larger accounts than yours.

Have the account executive go over an actual recent account case-history with you. Have him or her explain the objective of that campaign, the strategy used to achieve that objective, and the results of the campaign.

Intelligent, inventive strategies will obtain the best results. Look at the various strategies used by each PR agency. Which approach do you prefer? Of course, different objectives call for different strategies; but you will probably find that you prefer one firm’s approach over the others.

Most importantly will you get clear reporting of activities undertaken? Do you have agreed on expectations of the results.