target marketing

Identify Your Target Market Market research should help you decide what part of the market you can effectively and efficiently serve based upon the characteristics of the market, your own resources, along with the strengths (and weaknesses) of the services and products you have planned. It will not help you to over-estimate your capacity and disappoint customers with a lower quality product or an initial inability to provide enough of the product. 1 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Obtain information about your customers such as age, gender, ethnic origin and family status (called “demographics”) to get acquainted with who your customers are. Find out information such as life-style preferences, personal behavior, and buying style (called “psychographics”) to learn why people prefer one product instead of another. ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 2 ______________________________________________________________________________________ DEFINING YOUR AUDIENCE One can waste a great deal of time, money and effort marketing to individuals and companies who aren’t in your “target audience.” For example, if you price your honey higher than most, don’t waste your marketing efforts going after consumers who always buy the lowest-priced honey. Tip: Before you do any marketing, you need to know the important characteristics about those to whom you’re marketing. If you've been in business for some time, you probably have excellent knowledge about your audience. If you're just starting to sell honey, you’ll need to define your audience before doing any marketing. Either way, taking this quick survey is an excellent method to help you determine the target of your marketing efforts. The primary audience (consumer) for my honey is: Age ____________ ❏ Male ❏ Female Occupation ________________________________________ Annual income (for individuals) _________________________ - or – Annual revenue (for businesses) _______________________ Price conscious? ❏ YES ❏ NO Quality minded? ❏ YES ❏ NO Already aware of my business? ❏ YES ❏ NO ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market My customers are located: ❏ Locally ❏ Nationally My customers buy: ❏ In small quantities 3 ❏ Within a day’s drive ❏ Internationally ❏ In bulk ______________________________________________________________________________________ Once you’ve defined your audience, you need to decide what you want that audience to know about your business. For more on this, move on to the next section — “Defining Your Message.” If you have difficulty defining your audience, you may want to enlist the services of a marketing professional to point you in the right direction. For more information on finding a marketing professional, check out “Working with a Marketing Professional” found in the advertising section of “Honey, Get Selling.” ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 4 ______________________________________________________________________________________ DEFINING YOUR MESSAGE When we talk about “message,” we’re talking about what you want your audience to know about you or your product(s) in order to convince them to do business with you. Are you the low-price leader? Do you provide a better quality product than your competitors? Do you give away free honey stix with every purchase? Determine exactly what you want your audience to know about your business and stick to that message. Remember to keep your message very focused. If you overwhelm your audience with too much information, they may not pay attention to anything you say. As they say in the media world — STAY ON MESSAGE! Complete this quick survey to decide what you’d like your audience to know: The thing most people remember about my honey is _____________________ _______________________________________________________________ The most unique thing about my honey is ______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ My prices are: ❏ HIGH ❏ AVERAGE ❏ LOW I’ve been in business since ___________ My audience is familiar with me and my product’s name: ❏ YES ❏ NO Once you know this information, take a stab at defining your message. An example of a clear message is: “Buzzy Bee Honey Company has been providing the people of Chadwick County with top-quality, Clover honey at reasonable prices since 1965.” Now take a minute to define your marketing message _____________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market Once you’ve decided on your message, be sure to communicate it clearly in whatever type of marketing activity you pursue. If you run ads, make sure your message comes across loud and clear. If you meet a prospective client face to face, make sure they understand what you can do for them. 5 ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 6 ______________________________________________________________________________________ IS EXPORTING FOR YOU? During market research and product development you may wonder whether your product is appropriate to sell in the international marketplace. There may be many reasons to export your product, among them: • An opportunity to increase overall sales • Higher profit potential (after initial stages) • Utilize excess production capacity • Soften the impact of domestic seasonality • Take advantage of the world’s preference for American products • Take advantage of the opportunity to sell specialized, high-profit items to areas with greater demand than found in the U.S. Several agencies offer assistance to U.S. exporters of domestic products. These agencies offer a wealth of information running the gamut of topics from international market research, identification of markets, analysis of the competition and description of market characteristics to identification of channels of distribution. National Honey Board export promotions help increase U.S. honey sales in targeted areas around the world. Activities such as the following are an important resource: • Promoting U.S. honey to food traders in Japan and the Middle East through newsletters, trade seminars and food shows, then drawing from our experience to provide export market information to U.S. exporters. • Promoting U.S. honey to consumers in these countries by conducting instore promotions, providing point-of-sale materials and holding educational seminars. We also maintain a National Honey Board Web site in Japanese, www.nhb.jp. • Sponsoring and staffing exhibit space at international trade shows. We invite U.S. honey exporters to participate in these events. ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 7 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Obtain help from government agencies Rather than bearing all of the expenses alone, U.S. exporters may work together to cut costs. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Trade Development Office of Export Trading Company Affairs (OETCA) encourages U.S. firms, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), to work together for the purpose of exporting. SMEs that conduct joint exporting can increase their economies of scale and gain export-related advantages enjoyed by larger firms. Such benefits are of special importance to those SMEs that lack the resources to access foreign markets and conduct export business which may be profitable on their own. TIP: The OETCA provides in-depth program counseling at no charge. You can reach them at (202) 482-5131 or visit their Web site at www.ita.doc.gov/oetca. Get a low-cost or free listing in the U.S. Exporters’ Yellow Pages The U.S. Exporters’ Yellow Pages™ (USEYP) is coordinated by the Office of Export Trading Company Affairs. At little or no cost, the USEYP helps U.S. producers match with export service providers and makes it easy for foreign customers to connect with U.S. suppliers. Distributed worldwide in print form through the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service outlets and as an e-commerce service via the Internet, the USEYP serves as an effective international trade referral tool for businesses located around the world (www.myexports.com). To obtain a preview print edition of the USEYP or get help with exporting, contact your local U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center (EAC). To locate the EAC nearest you, contact Commerce’s Trade Information Center tollfree at (800) 872-8723. ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 8 ______________________________________________________________________________________ IMPORT/EXPORT RESOURCES Learn how to make overseas contacts, take advantage of low cost promotions, subscribe to a trade lead service and more by visiting the following Web sites or contacting the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. U.S. Small Business Administration 409 Third Street SW Washington, DC 20416 Tel: (800) 827-5722 Web sites: www.sba.gov/aboutsba/dis_offices.html www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms.html Features information on SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and SBA Loan Programs. Export-Import Bank of the United States Craig O’Connor Tel: (800) 565-3946 Web site: www.exim.gov The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) was created to aid in financing and to facilitate U.S. exports. Ex-Im Bank provides guarantees of working capital loans for U.S. exporters, guarantees the repayment of loans or makes loans to foreign purchasers of U.S. goods and services and provides credit insurance against non-payment by foreign buyers for political or commercial risk. The Ex-Im Bank must also ensure that there exists a reasonable assurance of repayment. National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Richard Kirchhoff Executive Vice President 1156 15th Street NW Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (202) 296-9680 Telex: 9103500181 NASDA UD Fax: (202) 296-9686 Web site: www.nasda-hq.org ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20230 Export Assistance Center Tel: (800) 872-8723 Web site: www.commerce.gov 9 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Food Export USA-Northeast Members: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. 150 S Independence Mall West Suite 1036 Public Ledger Building Philadelphia, PA 19106 Tel: (215) 829-9111 Fax: (215) 829-9777 E-mail: eusafec@foodexportusa.org Web site: www.foodexportusa.org Foreign Agricultural Service Trade Services and Exporter Assistance Branch Tel: (202) 720-9509 Web site: www.fas.usda.gov/export.html Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO) Members: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 309 W Washington Street Suite 600 Chicago, IL 60606 Tel: (312) 334-9200 Fax: (312) 334-9230 E-mail: info@miatco.org Web site: www.miatco.org Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) Members: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. 2 Canal Street Suite 2515 New Orleans, LA 70130 Tel: (504) 568-5986 Fax: (504) 568-6010 E-mail: susta@susta.org Web site: www.susta.org ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT Identify Your Target Market 10 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA) Members: Alaska, Arizona, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. 2500 Main Street Suite 110 Vancouver, WA 98660-2697 Tel: (360) 693-3373 Fax: (360) 693-3464 Web site: www.wusata.org National Honey Board 390 Lashley Street Longmont, CO 80501-6045 Tel: (303) 776-2337 Tel: (800) 553-7162 Fax: (303) 776-1177 Web sites: www.honey.com www.nhb.org www.honeylocator.com Web sites of interest for exporting assistance U.S. Trade Department Agricultural Trade Office, Mexico Foreign Agricultural Service Dept. of Commerce’s Stat-USA Export Hotline Trade Post Trade Information Center Int. Assoc. of Food Ind. Suppliers Int. Food Information Council SIAL trade show ANUGA trade show www.ustr.gov www.fas-la.com www.fas.usda.gov www.stat-usa.gov www.exporthotline.com www.tradepost-chat.com www.trade.gov/td/tic www.iafis.org www.ific.org www.sial.fr www.anuga.de ______________________________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL NATIONAL HONEY BOARD MARKETING KIT