As I mentioned in last month’s blog post, marketing strategies are often ignored as marketers are in a rush to focus on marketing tactics. This is a big mistake. A key part of a marketing strategy is segmentation and targeting. Marketers who miss this important step are often disappointed with their marketing results and don’t know why.
Without properly segmenting and targeting prospects, marketing messages are too general and miss the mark. A one-size-fits-all marketing approach is the worst kind of all because it fails to take into account clients’ distinct differences.
Each segment usually requires a separate marketing plan and budget because each segment has unique wants, needs, purchase criteria and decision-making timelines. Furthermore, each segment requires unique marketing initiatives and tactics to capture the audience’s attention.
Segmentation is done by applying one or more variables to a population of people or properties. For example, if you apply the variable of “property usage” to a population, you will end up with segments based on property types—single family residential, multifamily residential, retail, offices, industrial, government, etc. Other variables commonly applied include geographic location, property size, property value, etc. The more variables applied to the population, the smaller and more precise the segment is for targeting.
In my experience, most landscape contractors market to more than one segment. There may be good reasons to do so; however, some of the most successful companies are very narrow in their market segments. The difficulty with marketing to multiple segments is it places a strain on available resources (time and money), resulting in insufficient marketing spending for all segments.
What are your overall goals for this year? How much growth are you planning for each segment? What marketing initiatives for each segment would give you the best chance of achieving your goals? What marketing resources will be required to be devoted to each segment? What would it look like if you devoted 100 percent of your marketing budget to the segment with the greatest opportunity for growth and profit?
Let’s be smart about marketing by considering these questions. Let’s segment and target so we’re being strategic in our marketing. Once we take these important steps, we can move ahead with initiatives and tactics.
Now go forth.
