By effectively turning your marketing department into a knowledge management team, Vicky Kenrick of marketing consultants Skala Marketing, looks at how you can better target your clients before spending money on lavish campaigns.
 

It is well known that knowledge is power and this is certainly the case in business. Having the right information can bring the ideal competitive advantage and with this you can outrun competitors, anticipate changing customer needs, negotiate the best deals with your suppliers and, in turn, enable you to navigate your business successfully.

The amount of information out there can often make it difficult and time-consuming when selecting what you really need to know about your market and customers. Firstly, it is vital to know why our customers currently buy from you and what it is they are buying – is it the tangible benefits of the product or service, or the added values behind the brand that appeals to them the most? Or do they just purchase from you because you are the cheapest?

Establishing why you win business over competitors can help strengthen the winning aspects of the company and inform marketing messages that appeal to the target audience. You may be winning business from customers, but it is also worth finding out if you are given a portion of customer spend and what you could do to receive more.

Often, companies use several sources to avoid dependence on a single source, so it would be beneficial to ask what you could do to make customers more dependent on your firm.

Lock in your target

But while knowing why your customers buy from you is useful, having knowledge of what their alternatives are ensures you keep ahead of direct and broad competition, and maintain the interest of these customers. It is important to answer questions such as: which alternatives could test the loyalty of your customers and why? This way, you could look to provide these alternatives so custoemrs don’t seek to purchase products and services from competitors.

Tied in with this is the importance of gaining an understanding of which of your customers the competitors want to target. That way you can ‘lock in’ these individuals to make sure competitors can’t be seen as more appealing. Keeping up-to-date with the products and services competitors offer means that you can stay one step ahead as well.

Detecting the future needs of your target audience and understanding what product developments they will require ensures that products don’t become out-moded or business practise become less attractive. It is also vital to know how loyal your customer are, what you need to do to retain them and, when considering a new image, it is important to consider how adverse to change your customers may or may not be –
will a policy of continual improvement be enough to hold them or do you need to be innovative and market your business in new ways?

Obtaining regular feedback about how customers perceive you and elements of the business, products and services will not only bring priceless information but demonstrate your commitment to them as customers. Making them feel they are important is a key way to sustaining their interest in you over competitors.