Donnette

A marketing strategy blends the elements of the marketing mix, also known as the four P's (product, price, placement, promotion). The promotion element involves communication, and one type of communication is advertising. The advertising strategy combines the elements of a creative mix. This mix includes the target audience, product concept, communications media, and the advertising message.

In order to create an effective advertising message, it is important to know who your target audience is. The target audience includes the end-user, the person who makes the purchase, and the one who influences the purchasing decision. For instance, McDonalds target audience is made up of children and their parents. The children influences their parents purchasing decision. Therefore, McDonalds advertising message is directed toward the children, as well as their parents.

The process of determining who your target audience is begins with segmenting the consumer market; finding the right niche. This process begins with identifying groups of people with certain shared characteristics within a broad market. The categories of characteristics are geographic, demographic, behavioristic, and psychographic. Then combine these groups into larger market segments according to their mutual interest in the product's utility or benefit. From these segments, choose your target market. Your target audience includes your target market. The target market in the previous McDonalds example is the person(s) who makes the purchase. Target audience is larger than the target market.

Segmenting the business market is just as complex as segmenting the consumer market. Business markets are identified by using many of the same variables used to identify consumer markets. Additional variables used are business purchasing procedures, SIC Code, or by market concentration.

The product/service market consists of all types of consumers; however, groups of consumers have similar needs and wants. Begin with market research; identify your groups with shared characteristics; combine these groups into larger markets; and select your target audience which includes your target market. Before you create an effective advertising message, it is important to know who you are talking to. Do you know who your target audience is?

Rita J. Cartwright is a Virtual Assistant and owner of RJ's Word Processing Services. In 1998, she received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Marketing from Arizona State University. More information about Rita and her company can be found at http://www.rjswordprocessing.com

First make sure that the people you are sending your offer to are actually interested in what you are offering.

Often people contact me and ask me to promote their product to my list. If it isn't congruent with the products I have then I never cross the line and promote them to my list.

People give you their details trusting you to let them know when something good becomes available.

Don't blow it by talking about something they're clearly not interested in.

Personalize every email you send out, especially in the Subject Heading.

If there is something we are attracted to its ourselves. When we hear or see our own name we always give it a higher priority.

In this time of rampant spamming and internet jokes doing the rounds we are now conscious of how much time is wasted with this amazing so called time saving technology.

You want to maximize the chances of your email being read so keep it personal.

Everything you do in marketing has to showcase the benefits to the reader.

Too many times people send out an offer without having the benefits to the customer emphasized in the headline.

People only ever care about how something is going to help them either make their life less painful or make it more pleasurable.

Having a benefit to the customer in the headline can do this for you.

Think about your product or service from your customer's perspective.

What are the benefits that are going to interest them?

Is your product or service going to save them time and or money?

How is it going to improve their lives?

Write headlines that showcase emphasize these benefits.

Try to use power words in the headline!

One of the most powerful words you can have in the headline is You.

Don't forget people are so busy now they will only give your email a limited amount of their concentration. Therefore you should summarize your offer in the first paragraph.

If it's compelling enough it should grab the readers attention and make them want to read further.

To Be Continued!

Scott Wilson - Internet Business Opportunity Creator and Internet Business Coach. Owner of http://www.InternetSalesMentors.com and http://www.TheGoldsInHere.com