Marketing–now a ‘Specialty Service’
The world today is witnessing a transformation of every service into a ’specialty’ service, since it has the power to leverage the product / service that you offer. The word specialty has a great chance of getting your product / service noticed by customers. The marketing concept is a philosophy. It makes the customer and the satisfaction of his or her needs, the focal point of all business activities. Marketing executives are driven by their passion to delight their customers. This is primarily the reason why marketing too is now largely regarded as a specialty service not different from other specialty product / service.
Your course of action should be very similar to what it would be regarding any other type of business: get a crystal clear idea about who your prospective clients are and should be. For instance, lets assume that you are marketing a high-end specialty service, such as, a skin care spa. Your foremost goal would be to understand who is it that you are marketing and selling this specialty service to. Is your target audience primarily comprised of women? Where can you find these women? Do they belong to a specific socio-economic background (upper-middle class or upper class) and are sufficiently equipped with a disposable income for this type of service that may be viewed as a luxury? Do these women indulge themselves into other ways of pampering (or taking care of) themselves? For example, do they belong to a gym, take yoga classes, or shop at particular stores? All these places mentioned above are potential marketing venues. They are prospective partners you may want to consider approaching regarding cross-promotional opportunities or referral arrangements. Think about how you can help each other. After all mankind thrives on symbiotic relationships! We miss out on a considerable volume of clientele when our focus revolves around a specific geographic radius. It may cost you significantly if your marketing strategies target only the area around your business. Analyze: where do these women live? Where else they can get the same services as that you provide? How far away is your nearest competitor? If there are not a lot of skin care spas or salons that offer skin care services in the area that you have set up your business in, clients will probably drive a little further to get to you. If they have other numerous options to choose from, chances are they’ll frequent a spa closer to their home.
Understanding your competition is an instrumental step in determining how and where to market. Once you understand who you are marketing to, where you can find them and what your competitive environment looks like, you’ll need to think about why should people choose your services over others, that is, what makes your business unique and gives it that special edge. Why would someone come to your spa? What benefits do you provide that they can’t get elsewhere? Make sure these reasons are absolutely compelling.
Now coming to your marketing message. It will be a one-line reflection of what is it that your service would be offering and what makes it special. Make sure your marketing message is all-encompassing and based on the compelling benefits talked about earlier. This will grasp the attention of your prospective clients, giving them a reason to choose your spa and a reason to buy your services.
Use all of this information and put together a plan of marketing activities to get your marketing message out to your prospective clients. The amount of marketing you’ll need to undertake will depend on how much you want to increase your sales - the more aggressive your goals the more marketing you’ll need to carry out.
All of these are steps you cannot afford to miss out on while creating a marketing plan. A plan will ensure you are marketing to the right audience, portraying the right message; all in a manner that will help you achieve whatever your desired goals are. Your marketing plan will ensure that you have a marketing program customized for your business.
Creating a marketing plan is easy when you use The 10stepmarketing System, even if you are clueless about where to start from or what to do. You can learn more about this simple, step-by-step system at http://www.10stepmarketing.com/services.htm