Nancy Marmolejo with Comadre Coaching helps creative and entrepreneurial women hone in on their core strengths to turn ideas into action. She helps launch innovative ideas, enters new markets and builds upon natural talents. She faced a common problem, getting targeted prospects to her web site. Nancy had several articles that she had written which showcased her expertise. She determined that she could reach her target market of creative women and Latina business owners by placing her articles on web sites visited by her target market.
Month: September 2007
Target Marketing Helps An Attorney Transform Her Business
Today’s consumers seek out businesses that understand them, and the more you specialize your business to address the needs of a core group of people by “speaking their language,” you can develop your very own “super niche” of fanatically loyal clients and customers. A super niche is when you strategically target a particular market segment; get to know its inhabitants inside and out, and your company the business of choice within your industry to members of that niche. You do this by specializing your products and services to the needs, wants and desires of the most qualified prospects in your niche. By developing inside knowledge of this group, and giving them exactly what they want, you will inspire the loyalty that people give those who understand them. Mari Gottdiener, one of my clients, is a former attorney who specializes in getting credit bureaus to address and correct credit-report errors. With a little research, we decided to refocus her credit and consumer advocacy business from general consumers, who were obviously hard to target, to the narrowly defined market of professional mortgage brokers. We discovered that mortgage brokers were ready-made prospects. They had an ongoing need for her services on behalf of their loan applicants.
Thought Leadership Marketing
When David Silverstein launched Breakthrough Management Group (BMG) in 2001, he sought ways to establish BMG as business performance improvement specialists in the financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. Knowing that advertising was not a viable strategy, he embraced thought leadership marketing to establish BMG in key target markets. Silverstein spoke at industry conferences and commented on industry trends in his Leadership and Business blog. He co-authored INsourcing Innovation, a book that articulates BMG’s approach to developing core business competencies that drive innovation. He offered his expertise to the media, helping BMG garner coverage in over 100 publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Business Finance magazine, and Investor’s Business Daily. He also appeared on CNN’s Squeeze Play. In roughly five years, thought leadership took BMG from an unknown startup to a global organization with eleven offices on five continents. “Our reputation as a thought leader helped us expand into core markets, including Asia and Latin America, where credibility and name recognition go a long way,” says Silverstein. “Our reputation now helps our sales team get their foot in the door in key markets.” The Age of Thought Leadership Marketing used to be about “getting in front of” prospects, delivering your pitch and making the sale.