Who do you want to attract as customers? We understand if you answered, “Everybody!” As an entrepreneur, no one can fault you for wanting to attract as many clients and customers as quickly as possible, especially if you are just starting to grow your business. Many entrepreneurs believe that while larger and more established businesses can be choosy about their target market and ideal client, newer and smaller businesses simply have to bring as many warm bodies “through the door” as possible in order to stay viable.
It’s All About Growth & Success
While we certainly aren’t going to dispute the importance of keeping your small business afloat, especially in its earliest days, attempting to develop a digital brand and a series of marketing and advertising initiatives that appeal to anybody and everybody is a recipe for disaster. It will likely fail to attract any audience at all and it can derail your efforts to define and establish your brand identity. While it may be difficult to restrict your branding, marketing and advertising efforts to a specific group of customers, identifying and targeting the right target market and idea client early can help establish your brand and set a foundation for future growth and success!
The “Anyone With Teeth” Fallacy
An excellent way to demonstrate the pitfalls of unfocused branding, marketing and advertising initiatives is the “Anyone with Teeth” fallacy. Dentists and orthodontists, regardless of their level of education, expertise and geographical location, all generally provide the same set of standard and specialty services. If this is true then dentists and orthodontists all share the same target market, which is “anyone with teeth,” or the vast majority of the population. However, not all dentists and orthodontists are attempting to attract the same ideal client, as some have offices located in affluent areas and communities, with customers interested in premium corrective and cosmetic procedures. On the other hand, they may be serving less affluent areas and communities, with customers more interested in economical cleaning and corrective services or services covered by standard dental health plans.
Regardless of where these dentists and orthodontists fall, their ideal clients are not “anyone with teeth,” but a specific ideal client and target market based on external factors such as geographical location. If dentists and orthodontists were to implement an “anyone with teeth” approach to their branding, marketing and advertising, they will very likely lose prospective clients to their competitors who are making a successful effort to appeal to the right audience.
It’s All About Remaining Disciplined And Focused
When you learn about digital branding and marketing and advertising, whether I’s in a classroom, a one-on-one meeting with a digital branding and marketing expert, it’s easy to make a commitment to following established best practices and identifying a target market and ideal client. However, we all know that in the real world, it can be much more difficult to successfully reach your target market in practice, especially if the resources you have at your disposal to invest in these initiatives is limited and you don’t experience immediate results.
If you are interested in growing your business quickly, it can be extremely tempting to invest these resources in reaching the largest audience possible by casting the largest net possible, but being indiscriminate in your efforts to attract an audience does not guarantee a higher Return on Investment (ROI) or even that you will successfully reach a larger audience. In addition to professional guidance, successfully developing your digital brand requires discipline and a focus on mid- to long-term results.