Targeting Consumers

How are you targeting consumers? Do you throw out a big net of display ads, direct mail, and other marketing tools or do you have a targeted marketing strategy? In my post on strategic mapping, I mentioned the need to create a targeted strategy in order to achieve sustainability. It is even more important to provided clear targeted Ads to your consumer. These ads can be served up online or offline as long as the right data is used. 

Online:

• PPC - If you use Google Website Optimizer or another A/B testing platform, you can serve up dynamic content based upon the user. This can help with serving up specific ads in specific areas as well as limiting your spending with only having. targeted pre-screened leads click through your ad. Data on when, where and which ads are being clicked on should be used in your targeting strategy. Ads may differ by area, so don't be afraid to run hundreds of different campaigns to target several different individuals. 
• Social Media - these platforms provide a great way to give targeted ads to each user. The personal information that these users provide, will help to serve up targeted campaigns based upon data from your previous users. These ads can help to sell product as well as increase brand awareness. 
• Display -  banners generally have a low click through rate, but if a banner is targeted, it can increase effectiveness greatly. 
• Other Channels - each business will have proprietary relationships and channels used to generate business. Use the data that you have to push hot campaigns and reduce cool campaigns. Also, use data to target individuals for specific promotions or programs you are offering. 

Offline:

      With the increase of marketing towards the online model, it is even more important to ensure      marketing is targeted when offered offline. A TV or Radio ad should be run on stations and times when your target audience is listening. Also, look for data to upsell potential clients who use products or services similar to yours. 

Implementing targeted marketing in all of my marketing that I run for my channel has increased revenue and overall user experience. Take some time to review the data and make sure each marketing piece that you serve up is targeted. 

Strategic Planning - Crucial for Sustainability

What are your goals in strategic planning? As a former founder of a growth company and current channel manager of a tech company, I can affirm that without a strategic map, a company will not be able to achieve its ultimate goals. The current company I am with is in growth mode and is continually improving its systems to help match demand for the service that we provide. We are looking at adding various SaaS products, adding employees with experience, and giving training to current employees. A strategic map should start with employees and might look something like this:

1. In "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, he says to make sure that you have "the right people on the bus". Whether you are a fortune 500 company with 10,000+ employees or a growth company with 50-, without the right employees in the right spots, it will be hard to achieve any goals that you have. A great talent acquisition staff will help to make sure you have the right people on the bus. 
2. Find the bottleneck. Whether its improving a process currently used or implementing new software, there are always bottlenecks within a company that can be improved. I was able to increase the sales funnel of the company I am with by 50% simply by implementing a testing platform for the landing pages that we currently run. Bottlenecks don't always need to be complex, sometimes they will be simple and easy to improve. 
3. Determine whether you should keep a department or system in house, or to outsource. For years we have used an archaic creation system for various digital media that we run. With the growth of our company it has become increasingly relavent that their is a need to use a SaaS product that will improve the scalability of what we run. This simple adoption of a new system to improve scalability will provide a needed boost to a digital media platform. 
4. Focus on the customer and/or shareholder - Implement plans on how you will focus on the most important part of every business. If you are public, it may be valuable to put someone in charge solely to acquire new shareholders. I am amazed at how many companies don't have a Shareholder Acquisition Model in place. Also, make sure that your sales/marketing departments have clear goals to acquire new customers and improve satisfaction of current ones. 
5. Clear vision and mission - These 2 items may seem corny to some, but having a clear vision and goals for a company as a whole, will save you a lot of headache with your employees. In some of my more entry level positions, it was amazing how many of my fellow co-workers would complain about not knowing where the company was headed or what the company goals are. This is bad for the company and for employees. According to a recent study, worker satisfaction is increase by 100% if they believe in the work that they are doing and have a true passion for the culture and vision that the company has set. 

These are a basis for success with a strategic map. It is important that the company as a whole has a strategic plan and that each department has its own plan. This will help with overall productivity of the company and satisfaction of its shareholders and customers.