How to select the most effective marketing approach for your ideal customer

Tiny Marketing Actions: Selecting right strategy and ideal customers

Not all marketing approaches work for every business. The marketing strategy that works for a hip coffee shop across the street from a university might not work at all for a coffee shop in a conservative suburb. So how do you identify the most effective course of action for your business and audience? 

Pamela Slim’s Tiny Marketing Actions approach may be the answer you’re looking for.  Leveraging her experience as an award-winning author, marketing expert, and business coach, Pamela has developed an easy-to-apply approach that can be customized to work for every small business–regardless of budget. Even yours.

Revolutionize your marketing strategy with the ripple effect of Tiny Marketing Actions

How to create an effective, affordable marketing strategy for your small business 

Pamela’s signature process is a simple and effective way to create a custom marketing strategy for your business. Her process hinges on creating a clear definition of who your audience is, identifying where to find them, and then, based on that information, designing the best way to reach them. 

1) Start by defining your customer’s problem 

You can’t market to someone until you understand who they are and what they need. That’s why you need a target audience profile.

While many experts advise that you start your target audience profile with demographics (i.e. age, gender, where they live, income level) Pam says that for most small businesses, it’s far more actionable to start by understanding what challenges or problems your audience needs to solve.
For instance, your target customer’s challenge might be finding a source of affordable, ready-to-eat meals for their family. Or it might be locating just the right necklace to accent a business casual wardrobe.

Just by understanding this, you can start to see what you need to communicate in your marketing–and where you might reach that audience.

2) Map out your ideal customer’s ecosystem

Once you have defined your ideal customer, it’s time to map out the ecosystem that your chosen customer resides in. This means defining, based on their interests and communities, where they are already hanging out.
The benefit of this is that you’ll be able to create a more streamlined approach where you can engage more members of your audience with less effort and expense.
That ecosystem might include: 

1. Influencers and service providers that the customer admires
2. Religious or cultural organizations
3. Family and friends
4. Associations and clubs they belong to
5. The apps, technology, and companies they like, use, or buy from
6. Events and conferences they attend
7. Their favorite publications and social media platforms.
8. Government and non-profit affiliations

Once you’ve mapped out the specifics of your customer’s ecosystem, you’re ready to create a plan for meeting them in one of those places.

3) Find your beacon

While you might want to share your work through multiple channels, it’s important to identify one channel to call home. This will be the place where you put in the most effort and where you share the most about your business. 
Pamela refers to this as your ‘beacon’ because it’s the place where you draw the attention of your audience and start to build a connection. 
Pam’s thinking is that it’s far more efficient to do one thing really well than it is to attempt to try to do everything.
Marketing beacons include:

1. Podcasts
2. Vlogs 
3. Newsletters
4. Presence on a particular social media platform
5. Physical spaces (that’s right, your store can be your beacon!)

How do you choose? Think about which platform will allow you to connect with your audience in the best way. Ask yourself which marketing channel:

1. Are your customers most likely to find?
2. Will your customers find the most valuable?
3. Provides the best opportunity to communicate with your customers, keep them updated, and keep them engaged? 
4. Is best suited for your business? 
5. Will you be able to keep up with?

Once you answer these questions, you’ll have a good idea which beacon is best for your business.. 

4) Define your tone and style

Once you’ve decided which channel you will use to communicate with your customer, the next step is to define your brand tone and style.

This decision is based on three things:

1. The way you want to communicate with customers
2. The style that matches your brand personality
3. The tone your ideal customers will be most receptive to 

To make this easier, Pamela has developed a 4-zone strategy. Just choose the zone that best fits your business and go with that. 
These are the 4 zones:

1. Red zone: if you’re looking to set a more professional, formal tone for your business, this is the area you should place yourself in. Focus on platforms like LinkedIn, make sure to share relevant, industry specific information with your audience, and establish yourself as an industry expert. 
2. Orange zone: if you’re looking for a mash-up between professional and creative, the orange zone is the place for you. Here, you can establish yourself as an expert but still add a bit of creative aesthetic to your content strategy. To communicate with your audience, try running informative blogs and maintaining Pinterest boards. 
3. Yellow zone: This zone is for businesses who want to establish a more accessible tone. You might own a business that requires constant communication with your customers, or you might be part of an industry that undergoes constant changes. In this case, you need platforms like Facebook groups and Twitter to keep in touch with your audience and maintain a channel of active communication. 
4. Green zone: if you’re looking to change things up a bit and establish a fun, informal tone, the green zone is the one for you. You might have a younger customer base that keeps up with social media trends, or be looking to establish a more trendy look for your business. Instagram and TikTok are your best friends in this case, so make sure to keep up with the latest trends. 

Combine what you’ve learned to create the ideal marketing strategy to reach your customer!

Now that you’ve seen Pamela’s approach to small business marketing strategy, it’s your turn. Download Pamela’s workbook to apply her tactics to your own business and develop actionable marketing strategies.

Want more tips on how to use Tiny Marketing Actions to grow your business? Check out Pam’s other marketing strategies and get ready to grow your business today.