Size Matters
In marketing, targeting is simply taking careful aim. It’s about knowing and understanding your best prospects. Who are they (ideally, by name and title)? What is their business and industry all about? What makes them tick? What are their buttons and what can you do to push the right ones?
When it comes to targeting your market, in most cases, size does matter. It matters for a couple of reasons. First, you’ll need a market that’s large enough to have an ample supply of prospects. Second, within that target, you’ll want aim for companies that are large enough to need a bunch of what you do.
Without enough prospects in your selected target market, sales can be tough. Competition gets stiffer. You run the risk of having one key client representing 25%, 30% or more of your revenue. That’s a very dangerous place to be. If something happens and, for whatever reason, you lose that client, you’re up the proverbial creek, sans paddle.
If you live and work in a smaller market area with few local prospects, you’re going to need to consider branching out. Tap into the largest city near you. Get aggressive on the Net. Become active in a few clubs and associations. Consider budgeting some money for sales trips. That is likely to mean putting some dough aside from a decent gig to hit the road.
If there are a good number of prospects, but they’re all small companies, you find yourself with a constant stream of “one off” gigs – one-time shots or once a year deals. That means you’ll need to spend significantly more time, and also money, marketing and promoting your business. That might be fine for you. I know a lot of creatives who do just that. But, if you’re like most of the folks I’ve worked with on their marketing, you’d rather be designing, shooting, writing or whatever than spending most of your time on the phone, networking and generally schmoozing it up looking for your next meal ticket.
Focusing on larger companies can be more effective in the not too long run. Sure, the sales cycle is longer, but the rewards are worth it. Larger companies often have a steady stream of projects with bigger budgets. They usually have a better understanding of working with outside resources. And, frankly, some notable names on the client roster can help landing some more down the road.
Even after you land some larger clients, it’s important not to rest on your laurels. Marketing is still critical. I believe it was Heraclitus, who said, “The only thing constant is change.” He was spot on. Continuous marketing and promotion is needed to ensure you have prospects in the pipeline. Contacts come and go. Management directions get reworked and you may find you’re not part of a client’s brave new world. It happens. Having several prospects in the hopper at various stages of the sales cycle will help you fill in the gap faster when a key client goes bye-bye.
When it comes to targeting your market, in most cases, size does matter. It matters for a couple of reasons. First, you’ll need a market that’s large enough to have an ample supply of prospects. Second, within that target, you’ll want aim for companies that are large enough to need a bunch of what you do.
Without enough prospects in your selected target market, sales can be tough. Competition gets stiffer. You run the risk of having one key client representing 25%, 30% or more of your revenue. That’s a very dangerous place to be. If something happens and, for whatever reason, you lose that client, you’re up the proverbial creek, sans paddle.
If you live and work in a smaller market area with few local prospects, you’re going to need to consider branching out. Tap into the largest city near you. Get aggressive on the Net. Become active in a few clubs and associations. Consider budgeting some money for sales trips. That is likely to mean putting some dough aside from a decent gig to hit the road.
If there are a good number of prospects, but they’re all small companies, you find yourself with a constant stream of “one off” gigs – one-time shots or once a year deals. That means you’ll need to spend significantly more time, and also money, marketing and promoting your business. That might be fine for you. I know a lot of creatives who do just that. But, if you’re like most of the folks I’ve worked with on their marketing, you’d rather be designing, shooting, writing or whatever than spending most of your time on the phone, networking and generally schmoozing it up looking for your next meal ticket.
Focusing on larger companies can be more effective in the not too long run. Sure, the sales cycle is longer, but the rewards are worth it. Larger companies often have a steady stream of projects with bigger budgets. They usually have a better understanding of working with outside resources. And, frankly, some notable names on the client roster can help landing some more down the road.
Even after you land some larger clients, it’s important not to rest on your laurels. Marketing is still critical. I believe it was Heraclitus, who said, “The only thing constant is change.” He was spot on. Continuous marketing and promotion is needed to ensure you have prospects in the pipeline. Contacts come and go. Management directions get reworked and you may find you’re not part of a client’s brave new world. It happens. Having several prospects in the hopper at various stages of the sales cycle will help you fill in the gap faster when a key client goes bye-bye.
Labels: clients, marketing, neil tortorella, promotion, target marketing, targeting
2 Comments:
Yet another interesting post Mr. Tortorella.
Would you agree or disagree that also targeting businesses to build a long-term relationship is better?
I agree, change is continuous, but wouldn't it be nice to have several high-quality long-term clients? Is that even possible in our industry?
Building long term relationships is what things are all about. It’s easier to produce better results for a client we know well. But, as I mentioned in the post, be prepared for things to change. Folks move on to different positions or companies, company directives change, your contact has a new boss with new ideas, etc.
None the less, working to build the relationship is key. It’s important to remember, I believe, that for all intent and purpose, we don’t sell to, or have a relationship with the client company. We have one with our contact(s). When we establish an honest, quality relationship, when they move on we might also land a new client.
That’s not to say we lose their former employer as a client. When we do good work, that produces the desired results, the brass tends to notice. So, if we play our cards right, we end up with two clients. This has happened to me often. It’s one of the ways design, and other creative firms grow.
Sure it’s possible to have several high-quality, long-term clients. That’s evident with most of the larger creative firms. It’s the goal and the other way we grow our business.
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