Define your audience before marketing to it

It sounds counter-intuitive but some new businesses are not sure who their target customers are. They may know who they want them to be (affluent customer from the surrounding geographic area with significant disposable income), but don't always know if their customers will be male or female, what age group, etc. or what their favorite products or services or optimal price points will be.

To learn more about your target customer, visualize the group you want to reach out to and learn more about that group. Where do they shop? What magazines and newspapers do they read? Do they shop online? Is your target customer male or female? married or single? parent or nonparent? These types of things will help you to get a better feel for who your customer is and offer some insight as to where you might be able to reach that customer. For example, if you know your customers have children, you might target a parenting magazine for advertising versus a community newspaper who hits part of that demographic but not all of it. You might also consider adding a children's corner to your store to make it easier for families to bring their kids shopping with them.

Once you define your target market, reach out to those customers and continue to research and tweak your demographics. The better you understand your customer, the more effective your marketing will be. Happy marketing!

Virtually Yourz,
Dana Blozis

Magazine Advertising Success Secrets

If you want to reach your target audience, magazine advertising can help you get in front of the right people at the right time. Although usually more expensive than newspaper advertising, magazines have a longer shelf life and may be shared among readers. They also have a clearly defined market so you know what demographics you are reaching. To be successful, you'll want to:

1) Ensure that your timing is ideal. Magazines plan months in advance, so ask for an editorial calendar so you can plan your ad(s) for the right time.

2) Magazines tend to display higher quality ads than the black & white ads most newspapers display. Make sure you have a top quality ad with a great headline and compelling copy to grab your readers' attention.

3) Focus on telling your readers how they'll benefit from your product or service, rather than listing features.

To choose the right magazine to advertise your business in, contact relevant magazines in your market and ask for a media kit. The media kit will include a rate card (i.e., pricing) as well as demographics and, most likely, an editorial calendar.

To your success,
Virtually Yourz,
Dana Blozis