Ensuring that your marketing efforts take into account the physical location of your intended audience is critical. Here’s a quick shot of encouragement to get you digging a little deeper re: your geographic focus.
So… get out a map (or pull up Google Maps), zoom in on an area that you want to reach, and put your thinking cap on.
First, consider becoming more familiar with what kinds of activities are going on within your geographical target area. What do you know about:
- Where your customers are physically located (push-pin kinda stuff). You can find this out with a survey, your current sales database, or Stats Canada.
- The business or community events that your organization could be more involved with.
- The trends or developments you feel your organization could benefit from? You can usually find this out with focus groups in that area or by spending time in that market.
Second, ask yourself what the best course of action could be, such as:
- Should you create new sale territories or a physical presence? For example, the city of Abbotsford is a very relational business climate and requires businesses to have people in the community.
- Have you considered a hyper-focused direct mail campaign?
- What advertising opportunities are available (like roadside signage or the local newspaper or other local web presence)?
Now when it comes to growing outside of your usual areas, only expand geographically if the following conditions exist:
- There is a significant opportunity in the new market.
- The audience size in the current market is not sufficient enough.
- You possess the right sales and distribution structure to support efforts in that market.
- Your current market is approaching saturation and sales growth is starting to slow down.
The most important thing here is to stop thinking about your target audience as the faceless masses floating around in the world (or the Internet). Get down and dirty with the physical places and spaces that your clients/consumers dwell and aim to reach them in the most natural way possible, in their environment.