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Get the VIZZ on Focused Marketing

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Mass may be more, but focused is in your face! Nothing beats one-to-one marketing for delivering a message.

When you know your audience, or know enough about an audience, you can best communicate your company's product or service through one-to-one channels. Messages that are tailored to fit individual buyers elicit stronger, more immediate response.

Recently, buyers got the verve on Volvo via the velocity of email immediacy. Because Volvo knows its buyer demographics so thoroughly, it reached its target buyer audience by going right to the individual. Email was a focused way to reach a large potential audience with a personal message fraught with emotional connections.

The campaign for its new 2001 S60 sedan was unique in that it used on-line elements, including an AOL promotion, and CD Rom packages to connect with potential buyers. Volvo's results are evidenced by its commitment to a 2002 AOL campaign for the Volvo XC90 featuring a "My Volvo" page.

At the other end of the spectrum is B2B (Business-to-Business) marketing where up close & personal is the best way to establish brand recognition, leverage and loyalty. Of course, you do not have to have a consumer product to do this. Branding is about image, perceptions, and most importantly, the emotional connection your audience relates to your product and company.

For B2B marketers, one-to-one efforts are ripe for today's contact techniques. After all, many markets are dominated by just three to five players. For example, the U.S. baby diaper segment is dominated by just two companies, Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble. The cola world is dominated by Coke, Pepsi and a few others. Marketers only have to think about a wide world of contacts within their small target list of companies.

Relatively little has been written about one-to-one marketing via the web and email. But, B2B marketers who have always practiced one-to-one in person, on the phone and through targeted mailings can seamlessly take advantage of interactive technology. It's a natural for "mass" one-to-one marketing.

How to begin focused marketing? Email them. Send a CD. Mail a personal package. Call them up! The ultimate is still one-to-one, ranging from in-person, to personal tailoring for buying interests via email and strategic web. Get the Vizz on Focused Marketing!