Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Precision marketing
Decide who your ideal customers are—then decide where they go, what they do, and what they want. Use this information to target them precisely at key points in their everyday lives.
The idea
Precision marketing involves asking four questions—who, what, when, and how—to create a sharply effective marketing strategy. ABN, a bank wishing to court wealthy Dutch customers, created a lounge at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for the exclusive use of its Preferred Banking clients (account holders with savings or investments exceeding €50,000, or a monthly income exceeding €5,000). The elite lounge was open daily from 6 am to 10 pm, providing meeting space, internet access, refreshments, foreign currency exchange, and a place to relax amid the rush of t raveling.
With this project, ABN showed a clear understanding of precision marketing:
- Who its customers were: comfortably wealthy individuals traveling from the Netherlands.
- What they wanted: a place to enjoy relaxation and luxury when traveling.
- When they wanted it: between 6 in the morning and 10 in the evening, when the majority of flights depart and arrive.
- How to deliver it: creating an exclusive lounge that provided the amenities valued by affluent travelers.
What makes precision marketing special is its ability to reach its target audience and to meet their preferences in a memorable way, promoting a robust product that can withstand competitors.
In practice
- Make sure you target the right market by gaining access to reliable market research—for example, via web marketing. Precision is the vital element of precision marketing!
- Hold brainstorming sessions where each of the “four questions” of precision marketing are considered in depth.
- Consider what precision marketing strategy you would realistically be able to carry out that surpasses your competitors’ current efforts.
- Find ways to enhance your marketing and your offer. Keep it fresh, appealing, targeted, and distinctive.