More and more at the retail point of
sale we are asked for key bits of "targeting" information immediately
prior to completing the transaction. From your zipcode, phone number or
scanning of a loyalty card, each successive transaction allows these stores to
fine tune their marketing and theoretically bring about a 1:1
relationship between store and customer. Though now an Indianapolis
resident, every so often I'll supply my zipcode from living in New York State
-- merely to provide an anomaly within the database.
Loyalty cards represent a growing
form of the push toward target marketing. While most commonly associated
with your local grocer, the proliferation of loyalty cards in my personal
experience has extended even to the service center of my auto dealer. Still
not sure about that one or immediately aware of why it remains on my key ring. Benefits associated with the continued use
and retention of such cards include "lower" prices and/or eligibility
for special pricing or inventory availability opportunities. Continued
use and retention, of course, leads to the accumulation of knowledge by a
retailer regarding individual preferences and patterns. The savvy
retailer, in turn, will translate this information into more relevant marketing. Further, in doing so properly, cost savings through
decreasing reliance on potentially spendy and wasteful full market
advertising vehicles should result. We've certainly seen a decrease
in newspaper page counts over the years as key categories, department
stores for example, focus their marketing dollars on more niche and targeted
opportunities.
So here comes the part where we relate this to blogging. In the
cat-herding world of figuring out thin market audience targeting,
organizational blogging for search optimization and customer conversions
certainly can play a critical and sustaining role. It stands to reason
that a well placed sign at the point of engaged customer interest has the best
chance of producing the desired result of gaining new customers and/or
additional transactions. Whether this sign is a church bulletin seeking
volunteers for an initiative or reminder by the paint store clerk to also buy
brushes, well-timed and placed messaging clearly yields desired results through
best positioning.
Is your website, an always-available
greeter for your product or service, a well-placed sign at the point or
engagement or a needle in the proverbial haystack? If it's the
latter, and many are, blogging for a purpose provides the benefit of
personalization and similar situation along with a defined method of placing
your website squarely within the thin market your product or service needs to
reach. Perhaps even better, blogging effectively places your organization
squarely within the thin market at exactly the moment in which your service is
sought. What a great concept and marketer's dream -- targeting in a
cost-effective manner to a potentially elusive audience -- in exact parallel
with their active engagement in looking for solutions your company
provides. More often than not, this is a solid recipe for new sales and
new customers.
Instead of being potentially lost in (cyber)space, is your website a bright
star as a result of organizational blogging? Fortunately, you’re well on your way toward
taking those bold first steps where many have gone before in visiting Compendium Blogware. Now take step two…
