Fallacy of Target Marketing
There is way to much crap that gets called marketing these days.
I have been thinking about this issue for awhile.
Finally, I got fed up and decided it was time for me to do something to help clear up the confusion.
What follows is my attempt to categorize all the numerous marketing strategies.
Categorizing Marketing Strategy
So I went online and discovered the following marketing strategies (there were more but stopped looking after the 21st one):
- Email Marketing
- Internet Marketing
- Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Search Engine Marketing
- Online Marketing
- Marketing Promotion
- Offline Marketing
- Word of Mouth Marketing
- Marketing Plans
- Network Marketing
- Tele-Marketing
- Brand Marketing
- Multi-Level Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- Direct Marketing
- Relationship Marketing
- Promotional Marketing
- Event Marketing
- Loyalty Marketing
- Target Marketing
- Add newest fad [here] marketing…?
That list is way out of control. On my list, 20 of the 21 items are “strategies” used to form your marketing action plan. They are not different types of marketing but different marketing strategies and tools.
Use the right tool for the job. Now, let’s define the word, marketing.
Definition of Marketing
I define marketing as “the process by which information about a product or service designed to meet a need - real or otherwise - is communicated to those who have the need.” The goal of marketing is always to get people to seriously consider the merits of your products or services.
There are two key elements in the above statement:
- a product or service designed to meet a need - real or otherwise…
- is communicated to those who have the need.
If we agree that my definition of marketing is accurate then that big list represents 20 strategies or tools.
Many marketing professionals choose to promote themselves using “labels” i.e. event marketing, viral marketing, telemarketing, or [insert favorite marketing strategy/tool here] unfortunately, the confusion created by these professionals creates unrealistic expectations, wasted budgets, and confusion.
The entrepreneurs I meet all thought they were doing a good thing.
In most cases these business owners would have been better off spending time developing a marketing plan and their marketing message before spending a dime on marketing because target marketing is dead.
Why Target Marketing is Dead
We no longer targeting “markets” today, we target needs. We target the needs of your ideal customer and figure out how to best communicate with those that have the need (a.k.a. prospects and customers) - that is how I define marketing!
Once you have that figured out, selecting an appropriate strategy and tool to insert your message into, is the next most important decision.
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