Does the idea of narrowing your target market scare you? If you're like thousands of other online business marketers, the answer is yes. But you'd be wrong. Targeting your marketing segments very narrowly is actually a great way to increase business.
The key is making sure you understand the audience for your product or service and then finding ways to reach them. Some online businesses make the mistake of trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. That's a good way to lose everyone at once. Think about how the major retailers categorize and revise their messaging so that it hits the right target.
If you do the job correctly, here are five benefits:
1. Cheaper keywords
We all know that the most popular keywords are the most expensive. Don't try to compete with big advertisers. Instead, search for keywords that are very narrowly focused. They will be affordable and you will be visible. For example, if you sell a children's toy and determine that it will attract parents whose children are left-handed and live in the South, you've got the start of a good narrow target.
2. More traffic
You don't want traffic. You want targeted traffic. Floods of people who won't buy are a waste of pay per click money. When you target a more specific audience and get them to visit, your ability to convert is higher.
3. Increased visibility with the audience you want
This is where word of mouth comes in. You want to increase buzz about your product with the right audience. If you target properly, you will start to see referrals from current customers. That's advertising you can't buy.
4. Instant feedback
The great thing about using the web is that you don't have to wait very long to find out what's working. You should be monitoring your pay per click ads and using the best web analytics package you can afford.
5. An understanding about how to repeat this for other audience types.
Once you get the feel for how to put all this together for one audience, you can do it for several more targets. Not only will you increase your revenue, but you can find new targets you hadn't thought about until now.
Stephanie Diamond is a 25+ year marketing professional experienced in building profits for a broad range of online businesses. As Marketing Director for AOL she created a line of multimedia software products that generated millions of dollars in incremental revenue. In 2002, she founded Digital Media Works, Inc. http://www.DigMediaWorks.com/ an interactive marketing and design firm which offers a complete line of solutions for online businesses. She helps companies figure out how to make their products easy to buy!
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