Taking the Personal Approach With Your Marketing

I had a pleasant surprise this morning when I logged onto my computer and headed for my Gmail - a personal birthday greeting from Google. My first thought was "wow, Google knows everything about me!" This was followed quickly by a realization that (a) that's because I told them all about myself in sundry ways; and (b) that makes my user experience unique to me. Oh, and (c) - they have some very smart marketers over there at Google.

Any marketer worth her salt knows that mass marketing is, if not dead, then certainly wobbling around on its last legs. Bringing a custom message to your target audiences is not only a more effective approach, it is more cost efficient, too. This blog, for example, is for those who follow me and are interested in what I have to say about marketing. I don't publish it as an ad in the newspaper for the whole world to see because, frankly, most folks don't care about marketing. I would be wasting a ton of money to buy newspaper ads for that purpose.

Likewise, your business' marketing efforts can and should be targeted. That requires some work on the back end - creating segmented marketing lists and custom messages, for example. It can be more time consuming than just developing a TV spot and buying time on the SuperBowl so the whole world can hear what you have to say. But in the end, you will save money and get better results.

Segmenting is more than just dividing up your customers by gender or age. It can include geographic locations, product choice, buying history, brand preference or even birthdays. Wouldn't you rather get an Email telling you when your favorite brand of shoes is on sale than a blast notice that everything in the store is 10% off? How about a notice from the grocery store telling you that your usual brand of laundry soap is on special this week - would that be worth something to you as a customer?

You can take those same ideas and use them in your own business, no matter what kind of business you have. It takes effort to understand your customers first, though, and know a little bit about them and their preferences and buying history. You might have to do a little more record-keeping, but in the end you will be establishing a closer, more personal relationship with your customer.

Interested in knowing more about small business marketing? Visit my website at www.DeppeCommunications.com or call me to discuss your needs at 904.524-0170.