February’15

Marketing Tip

Targets on your communication campaign go by different

names today: followers on Twitter, “friends” on Facebook,

prospects on sales lists, etc. The bottom line is that businesses

need to build a database to establish and continue a conversa-

tion with their existing clients and prospects. Building a good

database takes time and effort; the best database is one that

develops organically where contacts know your company.

However, your marketing strategy might be very aggressive

and you need a database now. In such situation, buying con-

tacts is the best solution and there are reputable companies

that will supply you with valuable information.

One caveat is that you need to know what you are looking for:

describe your perfect customer in terms of age, income, sex,

family status, geography, and buying behavior on the consum-

er market. Sales figures, number of employees, and geography

are some considerations for the business-to-business market.

Segmenting your database is part of the process to make it

more useful. Your existing customers should receive a differ-

ent message than your prospects. Entrepreneurs, often times,

concentrate on new sales and I get it, a business needs to have

fresh customers to thrive. However, remember the Pareto

Principle: 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.

I have seen this rule first-hand on my years of experience and

it stays pretty close to 80/20 over different industries. Going

after new business is great as long as you are taking good care

of your top 20%.

Your business is unique and so will be your communication

campaign. Call us at (520)515-5478 or e-mail us at nor-

tonr@cochise.edu to set-up an appointment to develop strate-

gies to maximize your existing database or work with you to

develop a database building plan.

Databases

Cornerstone of your communication campaign