Here are 5 W’s of Marketing yourself or your business

1) Who – Identify customer groups
2) What – What are their needs
3) Why- Why should they buy from you?
4) Where – Where can I catch them to sell to them
5) What – Identify the media

There is also an H…
How – measurement of KPI’s that give you the ROI

Lets run through the 5 W’s first…

1) Who – before Identifying who you think your ideal customer is or what broad appeal your product or service has you should do some research.
Many businesses have failed because they relied on a whim of someone who liked a particular food or type of clothing only discover that it was a subjective need or taste.
A fashion brand once invested a lot of money in the early eighties is a pair of trousers that had a wide rubber inner waistband so that people could wear the trousers round their stomach without it falling down to their waist .. yes you got got it,most people wear their trousers at their waist! and yes; it did fail!
So do some research first search Google , that is a good starting point, look at your competitors, conduct a survey in your local area or if you have the money contract a Marketing Research company – this will tell you the “Who” and maybe answer the next question…

2) What are their needs, You need to market a product to your customers needs, hopefully you have recognised a real need for what you are marketing but you can actually create a need…Hagen Dasz created a market for ice cream in the winter by marketing  it as an appealing and indulgent.

3) Why – the reason why they should buy from you is because you or your product is unique – this is your USP – unique Selling point.
A good exercise in working out your USP is by creating a tagline or strap-line or in Networking terms your 30 second introduction.

4) Where  – see example in my previous post in June http://vmal.co.uk/?p=2445

5) What – What method will I reach my client:

TV or Billboard campaign – Both these types of advertising are for businesses with big budget who want to raise awareness of their product.

Email campaign – if you use an email service such as Mailchimp, Aweber or others  – An Email campaign has an added benefit of being easy to track who has opened your email.

Do I do a leaflet drop – This is a relativity low cost marketing method but not as cheap as email!

Social media or Google Adwords campaign – you pay per click but can bring good and targeted ROI

A Website is both an online shopfront and if created with marketing in mind can capture leads for a targeted campaign.