Ready, Aim, Fire!

Advertising is often described as a "hit or miss" endeavour. You shoot off an ad into the big, bad world, hoping it will land somewhere nice and reap a substantial return on investment (that's R.O.I. for those playing at home...)

DREAM ON!

One of the most important aspects of any marketing campaign is to direct it to the "Target Market". But exactly who is the Target Market? That isn't always an easy question to answer. Alas, the people your ad needs to reach simply don't have bullseyes on their shirts or the words: "Pick me! Pick me!", flashing in psychedelic neon lights across their foreheads. (Conjures up a pretty wacky image though....)

Even industries in which the target market seems straightforward may, for some campaigns, need to analyse further just who they're trying to reach. Indeed, some campaigns may well be more effective when directed at the "target market within the target market".

Let me explain using O'Malley's Tractor Company as an example.

** NB: the following story is fictitious and any similarity to tractor companies – or O'Malley, for that matter - is purely coincidental...**

O'Malley's Tractor Company has been making tractors for generations. It's one of the best-known tractor companies around. O'Malley's customers range from the rural sector - farmers, market gardeners and the like - to landscapers, excavation contractors and the building industry. Even the local council has been using O'Malley tractors pretty much since the company began.

Mr O'Malley Senior reckons his grandson, Paddy, is about to take the business to a whole new level with his invention, the "O'Malley Widget-Weeder-Feeder"

The O'Malley Widget-Weeder-Feeder (or WWF) is a weed-spraying device that attaches to the roof of a tractor, allowing the operator to kill unwanted plant species as he ploughs the land. Everyone in the O'Malley clan knows he's onto a winner!

There's just one question....

HOW DOES PADDY SELL HIS WIDGETS?

Well, there are several options. Paddy could take out a full-page ad in all the trade magazines represented by O'Malley's customer base. Publications such as: Builders' Weekly, Farmers' Own, Life on the Land, Renovator's Digest, Build it and Guild It. But how effective would this be?

Paddy would make sure the ad was pretty. Great graphics, glossy and well laid out – no expense spared to showcase the family company's newest jewel. But how effective would this be? Would the return on investment justify the expense in placing ads in all these magazines?

Who is the target market according to this scenario?

O'Malley's entire customer base.

Who should the target market be for this ad campaign? In other words, which section of O'Malley's customer base would benefit most from this new product? Who is the target market within the target market?

The O'Malley Widget-Weeder-Feeder is a valuable tool for farmers, market gardeners – people working on the land. Placing ads in magazines catering to these readers will therefore have a greater chance of being acted upon than ads placed in other publications. For example: Farmers' Own readers will be more responsive than subscribers to Build it and Guild It. Basically, Paddy's Return on Investment ratio will be higher by placing ads only in correctly targeted publications.

SO, HOW DOES PADDY SELL HIS WIDGETS?

By fully analysing just who his target market is for this particular advertising campaign. When Paddy's next invention, Widget Mark 4 – boon to the demolition and excavation industry – is ready for sale, his target market will be different yet again.

Marketing may still be a "hit or miss" endeavour, however, by scrutinising and analysing the target market for each individual campaign, you can dramatically increase the number of direct hits and the number of sales.

Happy hunting!

© Carol Dorman 2006

Other articles by this author »
About Carol Dorman

Carol Dorman is a Commercial Writer and owner of Quill Writing Services. Contact Quill for all your writing needs including: marketing copy, business letters, procedure manuals, ghost writing, web content, editing, proofreading and more.

quillwritingservices.com.au


And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Make Your Money Work Year-Round

(NC)-For many Canadians, the only time they are prompted to think of their investments is during the winter months, primarily in response to RSP deadlines. However, investing regularly and putting your cash to work year round, reaps many more benefits including growth through compounding, improved cash flow management and the efficiency of dollar cost averaging.

So even if you're at the cottage or out on the boat this summer, the money you contribute to a regular investment plan can be working hard to maximize your RSP investments.

Contributing regularly makes investing easier and puts your money to work sooner. Through a continuous purchase plan, like those available from BMO Mutual Funds, you will be contributing more regularly such as monthly or bi-weekly. This gives you the comfort and convenience of making smaller, regular contributions to your RSP portfolio and it means your retirement account can grow considerably, due to the remarkable impact of compounding.

Ed Legzdins, President and CEO, BMO Mutual Funds suggests that, for many investors, a continuous purchase plan "just makes good sense" and he urges investors to talk with an investment professional to get a better understanding of how these plans work. "An investment professional can explain the benefits of investing regularly, and demonstrate how this can help you achieve your goals," he said.

"For example, $100 per month invested over an 18-year period can amount to $46,865, assuming an eight per cent effective annual rate of return compounded monthly."

Regular investment plans can also help you manage your monthly cash flow. You will know exactly how much will be withdrawn and on what day of the month. You can also increase or decrease your contributions, at no cost, should the need or opportunity arise.

Contributing on a regular basis also allows you to benefit from what experts call "dollar cost averaging". This means your regular contribution buys more mutual fund units when the price is low, and fewer when the price is high, helping to reduce the average price you pay per unit over the long term.

A visit with an investment professional can help determine if a continuous purchase plan is best suited for your individual portfolio.

BMO Mutual Funds are offered by BMO Investments Inc., a financial services firm and separate entity from Bank of Montreal.

Information provided by Bank of Montreal. For more information visit www.bmo.com.

Other articles by this author »
About News Canada

News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.