Ready, Shoot, Aim?

I'm an archer (and I shoot on the pistol range too). You learn when you're standing there with a dangerous piece of equipment in your hands that could hurt someone else if you don't shoot it properly, that you need to take your time, slow your breathing, take aim and then let it go. Hopefully, it will hit the target where you want it to go. But if you just take up the gun or the bow and shoot, without aiming, the result might not be too pleasant.

Marketing is really the same: if you do it right, you hit the target -- maybe even get a bullseye. But if you don't take your time, find the right market, and aim your presentations at that target, then you are shooting everywhere at once, and much of what you hit will be nowhere near where you want it to be.

Even for businesses that have been around for a while, and have their marketing plans already in place, it doesn't hurt to take some time to look over those plans, make changes where necessary and even, perhaps, take a look around and see if there maybe something new you could do to laser in a bit on who you want to sell to.

Spend some time going over your plan. Who is your target market? Has that changed over time? Is the market you're targeting good for your company, or perhaps the sight is not quite true and you're missing the bullseye all together?

Once you are confident about your target market, then you can look at the different ways to market: how about direct mail? Does that still work? What about social media? How long does that take? By looking at the way your target customers like being marketed to, then you can play to those likes and WHAM! You've just hit the bullseye! Congratulations!