Want Better Results? Focus.

There's a wacky paradox I've encountered a few times recently: the smaller a business is, the broader they think their marketing platform should be.

I ran into an old friend last week, now a partner in a start-up. When I asked who their target is, he said, "Oh, everyone." I pressed him a bit, asking if they were concentrating on the consumer or business marketplace. His reply? "Both. Don't want to miss out on any business." A two-man operation targeting, it seems, all of planet earth. That's been their strategy since they opened shop, and so far... not much is happening.

A friend of a friend runs a specialty food business. Last year he approached me for advice on a marketing campaign. "I'm thinking outdoor boards," he said, "so I can hit as many people as possible." I suggested something a little more targeted, but those boards were just too tempting. He blew the cash.

A year later, his business had actually shrunk.

You could blame the economy, and there would be a grain of truth to that. But the economy is no excuse for giving in to one of the most fatal marketing blunders a small business can make: trying to appeal to everyone. It's a tendency that stands in loopy opposition to one of the great golden rules: find your niche. In other words, focus in on the most accessible target market you can find. And own it.

Many businesses mistake being a niche player for being weak, when in truth, it's the true niche players who tend to rise to the top. Southwest Airlines? Niche. Chipotle? Niche. Starbucks? Well, they once were, anyway.

In lean times, it's more important than ever to focus your marketing, devoting more resources to fewer markets that you can dominate. Here now are a few smart ways to make sure you keep things focused and on track.

Start With The Simple Question, "How Many Customers Do I Need?" A smart marketing plan is built around how much revenue your business needs to generate over a set amount of time. You should have a strategic growth plan in place that provides aggressive, but reasonable, targets for revenue. From there, ask yourself how much business you need to drive to create that revenue. In most cases, the smaller the company, the smaller the revenue target, and the more focused you can afford to be.

Stay Close To Home. Chances are, there's a terrific base of customers that's much closer than you think. It's much easier and much more efficient to solicit customers that are close to you, geographically or otherwise. The customers you want are the ones that can be counted on to give you repeat business with the least amount of effort on your part. For a neighborhood retail shop, that means owning the neighborhood first before casting a wider net. For a BtoB company, that means starting with the markets and customer bases you know best, and saving the cold-calls and hail marys for last resort.

Build Your Own Ideal Customer. You may have a demographic understanding of your target market-- age range, household income, etc. Now couple that with a persona. Actually create a fictionalized person that represents the dead-center bullseye of your target market. Give him or her a name, a job, a car, a pet, favorite foods and music. Then make sure your marketing speaks to this person before all others. I promise, the others will follow.

Don't Pick Fights, Avoid Them. Straight out of Sun Tzu-- the General who wins the most is the one who fights the least. Better to focus on markets that your competitors have chosen to neglect. Why fight to gain position when you can just take it? The best businesses in the world, large and small, are the ones who live by this rule of thumb. And the smaller you are, the easier it is to live by.

Don't Dilute Resources, Concentrate Them. Some say it takes seven touch points for a marketing campaign to compel any action. In other words, I have to hit you with my message seven times before you'll do anything. That's a broad measure, but the simple truth is that you're much better off concentrating your efforts on one small market with lots of potential than spreading yourself, and your message, too thin. Great businesses prefer to own specific markets than to simply play in lots of them. Is there a market out there you can own? Then go forth and own it.

Like I mentioned in the article Small Business, This Is Your Time, this really is a great time for small businesses to gain position and market share. The more you concentrate on a smaller market, the more relevant you become to it. The more attention you're able to pay to these customers, the more they'll return the favor. Getting big by thinking small-- it may sound crazy, but it works.

Comments

[Will Peters]

That's awesome! I love it. Just seen your post on entrepreneur.com and came over. You've got good stuff. Take a look a look at my site and let me know what you would do to improve. www.anstad.com. I'm focusing my marketing efforts on small businesses generating under $500k per year in the Charlotte Market to start. Your thoughts would be great.

[Anonymous Ad Guy]

Will,

Thanks for the kind words; glad I had something relevant to you.

Took a look at the site and a couple things jump out. First, I'd consider eliminating the flash intro. Most businesses are trending away from them these days. Most folks tend to hit the skip button anyway; they want to get to your site!

On the homepage, I'd think about simplifying the content to really focus on the customer benefit. Right now there's a lot about your company. I'd put more emphasis on your customer's needs, and save stuff like mission, about us, and careers for a secondary page. Ask yourself, if I've only got someone here for five seconds, what's the ONE thing I'd want them to take away from my site? Make sure that's the message that comes across first.

Anyone else have any thoughts? Check out his site and chime in.

[Tom - StandOutBlogger.com]

Focusing is something I need to focus on :P More in a way that I need to concentrate on one idea at a time...