Leak vs. Puddle: Targeting Audiences for Profitable Growth
Libby Covington from Craig Group recently appeared on the “The Adaptive Executive” podcast with host and CEO of Five C Consulting Greg Ballard. Topics discussed included private equity trends, tracking ROI, innovation, and B2B marketing strategies.
Oftentimes in business, the problem is obvious to the management team but the source is unclear. In other words, they can see the puddle but can’t identify the leak. The puddle might be the lack of profitable growth or a difficulty in acquiring new customers. The leak could be coming from missed earning opportunities or an issue in the sales pipeline. To solve a problem, Covington says a company must identify the root cause.
The key for any business is knowing who the target audience is and meeting them where they are. Without a clear understanding of the potential buyer, most business problems will continue to resurface.
To identify the core of existing business problems, consider these questions.
Has the business defined its total addressable market?
The total addressable market (TAM) is a key tool for effective marketing and understanding the motivations of customers. At a high level, the TAM will show investors, employees, and key stakeholders the sales potential of a business. At a more granular level, a well calculated TAM will guide a company’s investment decisions for products, customer segments, and business opportunities. This will offer a clearer picture of where to focus resources and establish guardrails for putting together go-to-market strategies. It also provides information on how ongoing efforts are translating into financial goals.
Is there a strategy in place to identify poor performing regions, product lines, or service lines?
Identifying the target audience is the most important factor for ensuring effective marketing strategies. With the wrong audience in mind, there is the risk of wasting valuable time, resources, leads, and money. Keeping track of how and where leads are converted will help in pivoting strategy if it is not producing adequate results.
How is the company addressing its audience and is there a measurement system in place?
Once the core audience is identified, have the discipline to focus marketing efforts on them. By clearly defining the target audience, it becomes easier to capture a potential buyer’s attention because a company is addressing its ideal customers’ pain points. Identifying the target audience takes an investment of time, money, and resources. However a true understanding of the core audience will build a demand generation program that can withstand market and economic crises. To stay on track, it is important to measure conversions to customers, focus on audiences that are profitable for the business, and re-work strategies as needed.
Knowing overall revenue opportunity in a given market, identifying the target audience within that market and making them the focal point of your outreach are all ways to plug a potential leak before it becomes a puddle. The success of this strategy will not only eliminate problems — it also delivers an improved ROI for a company’s marketing efforts in the long run.
Listen to Libby and Greg’s full conversation on Apple, Google, and Spotify.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Tricia Eaton tricia@craigmarketinggroup.com