IN MY VIEW
Targeted Marketing: The Key To Growth
DORIAN DAVIES IS THE MD OF DORIC MARKETING.HE HAS SPENT 26 YEARS WORKING IN THE UK POOL AND SPA INDUSTRY IN FRONT-LINE SALES AND MARKETING ROLES, BUILDING BUSINESS AND INCREASING SALES IN BOTHB2B AND B2C ENVIRONMENTS.HE NOW BRINGS HIS EXPERTISE INDEPENDENTLY TO THOSE COMPANIES WISHING TO ADDRESS THEIRMARKETING ISSUES, FIND NEW CUSTOMERS AND WINMORE BUSINESS
To say it’s long overdue for our industry is an understatement! Whenever one is asked to write pieces such as this which try to take stock of the past and then predict the future, it’s always difficult, and I sincerely hope the weather will give a well needed shot in the arm to the market and inject some badly- needed growth. On the back of this, I’m going to do something very unsexy right now and ask the trade to look towards autumn. This is the time to really have a good look at your current marketing strategy and have a good honest appraisal of what’s working for you and what’s not, and gear your activities to a targeted approach designed to generate response. That way, you’ll have a system and programme in pIace and running in advance of the start of the season – shutting stable doors after the bolting of horses is always a bad idea when it comes to marketing (that said, if you’re currently doing nothing, you have to start somewhere!).
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I cannot emphasise the word ‘targeted’ enough. In a recent round of presentations I did at SPATA regional meetings, I showed graphically the size of the domestic pool market alongside the market for second hand cars bought from a recognised dealer. On current figures, 15% (ish) of UK households will buy a used car per annum (based on figures from the OFT). Compare that to the 0.00534% of UK households who will buy an in-ground pool of some kind (based on figures from SPATA), and you can see instantly the gravity of the task in-hand and the absolutely vital importance of focussing every penny of your spend in a targeted and response-generating way.
The other reason to ensure your marketing
is laser-targeted is because the distribution of wealth within the population is also changing, with the middle class shrinking, the numbers of poor or on low incomes increasing and more and more of the country’s money is in the hands of fewer and fewer. This trend looks set to continue and with tax revenues decreasing too, we can’t look to the public sector anymore either. We can argue the morals of this situation until the cows come
88 August 2013 SPN
s I sit here typing this, we’ve undergone one of the hottest and longest heatwaves since 1976, and it looks all set to continue too.
is by taking control of your marketing and putting strategies in place aimed at generating response, embarking on relationships, winning new customers, building sales and reinvesting in future growth.
home, but as marketers we just have to accept it as a fact of life and plan for it accordingly. I see this as a really important area to address, as far too much of the marketing content I see put out by a good proportion of the trade still appears to be aimed at a customer who may have been in the market for what we sell in the feel-good days of the mid 2000s, but who represents a smaller and increasingly dwindling segment today. It’s also vitally important to get your marketing sorted out is because it is the only way that you are going to grow the business in the current climate. We, luckily, managed to avoid a triple-dip recession, but most economists independent of political leanings seem agreed that with growth at or below the 1% mark, all bar the very top strata of society will struggle for the next few years. We can’t therefore look to ‘organic’ growth in the market; nor can we be held ransom to the weather which, as we’ve seen over the last few years is utterly unpredictable. Therefore, the only way that you as a business owner can exercise any kind of control over your future
How do I know this? Because of my work with and observation of other businesses, both in our industry and outside it. The one thing that sets businesses who are achieving great results apart from those who are struggling, is their marketing. They don’t build better pools than their competitors, they don’t sell better spas, they don’t do a better job of looking after their customers. What they are much better at is generating new enquiries and closing deals. I was at a conference in London recently and had a long chat with a lady who ran a small chain of hairdressers in the Home Counties. The hairdressing sector has had an absolutely torrid time in the recession and many businesses have gone to the wall. She was in the same position, but now was opening new salons, employing more stylists, putting her prices up, selling more products and making much higher margins. How? Simple, she told me. Just by doing something her competitors weren’t – marketing. Marketing to get more enquiries and targeted at a higher quality clientele, get them through the door, and sell to them. So, how do you achieve this? As mentioned, have a good look at what you’re spending money on and work out how many new customers per month it’s bringing you. Divide the first figure by the second and you have your cost per acquisition. Then work out the profit it generates you. Needless to say the total profit should be higher than the total cost of acquisition. If you could double the number of enquiries you get, without changing anything else you will double your sales... further food for thought...
SPN
Doric Marketing 01672 841193
dorian@doricmarketing.co.uk
“THE OTHER REASONTO ENSURE YOUR MARKETING IS LASER-TARGETED IS BECAUSE THEDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH WITHINTHE POPULATION IS ALSO CHANGING”
www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
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