As essential purpose of marketing is creating market awareness of your product, service, brand, or organization. The market is your target audience – customers, clients, donors, volunteers, or whomever you’re trying to reach. Check out this blog article which goes into some detail about the goals of marketing which include: brand awareness, lead generation, publicity, findability, and brand/idea reach. Let’s explore that last point in more detail. How does a business (or non-profit) expand their reach in the market?
It’s important to start with a well-defined target market.
The target market is a subset of the entire market and is typically defined by a number of factors which may include: age group, gender, geography, interests, purchasing history, and other criteria. As the name suggests, the target market is the object or focus of marketing activity. A marketing plan provides guidance on how one intends to reach their target market. A plan that includes a well-defined target market is more likely to succeed than a plan which tries to target everyone. It’s been my experience that most marketing plans fail because of a lack of a well-defined target than for any other reason. Define your target, and you’re more likely to hit it.
- Target market – the audience and focus of your marketing activity
- Marketing plan – guidance on how to reach the target market
- Marketing channel – defined connection between you and your target market
- Marketing campaign – a specific message directed at your target market
- Marketing metrics – measurements of marketing results
- Marketing reach – the specific sets of metrics to measure who saw your marketing campaign
Back to the original topic of this article, how does one expand the reach of their business or organization?
A diversified portfolio of marketing channels and campaigns directed at your target audience will expand the reach of your business. It’s that simple and if you do it right, your audience will convert – which means they will take whatever action you are asking them to make (buy something, donate, volunteer, make a referral, etc.) Earlier, I suggested that the number one marketing plan fail is not defining the target audience. The second-biggest marketing fail I’ve seen is relying on a single channel or campaign to generate interest in your business.
A classic blunder that many service businesses make is relying solely on word-of-mouth referrals. Make no mistake, a referral is a great way to get new customers, and it’s the single biggest way we get new business. However, those referrals are made more effective with sustained marketing activity to create awareness and establish credibility. Almost everyone “checks out” an organization online before reaching out. Accordingly, it’s important to be seen in all the right places with the right messages. Don’t put “all of your eggs in one basket” just because it’s worked well in the past. Everything changes, and you don’t want your business to be based on a single marketing channel.
Here’s a handy table of some suggested marketing channels and metrics that you can use in helping to expand the reach of your business or organization.
| Marketing Channel | Example | Purpose | Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website | Your company or organization’s website | Best source of online information for your target | Unique visitors, sources of traffic, conversions |
| Search engine optimization (SEO) | Google Business Profile | Making sure you are found when your target is looking for you | Google Analytics, positive reviews |
| Search engine marketing | Google Pay-Per-Click | Be at the top of search results | Impressions, conversions |
| Monthly newsletter | Build a defined audience and stay in touch | List growth, open rate, click-through rate |
|
| Social media | LinkedIn or Instagram | Reach your target where they hand out on social media | Account growth, interactions, inbound web traffic |
| Digital ads | Online advertisement | Reach your target where they hang out online | Impressions, click-through rate |
| Print ads | Magazine advertisement | Reach your target in publications your target reads | Distribution, referral mentions |
| Traditional advertising | Radio spots | Reach your target audience where you are likely to be seen | Audience size, referral mentions |
Okay, we’ve established some basic definitions and provided a chart of suggested marketing channels and metrics.
What about the marketing campaigns to push through those channels?
That’s where a firm like ours can help. You might know what you want to say, but knowing how to say it via words, pictures, video requires creativity and experience. Besides, knowing where to place it (channels) can be overwhelming. We’re Country Fried Creative and here to help you expand the reach of your business or organization.
