Marketing Solutions 101 for Business to Business: Defining the Ideal Client

Welcome to the very first installment of the Marketing Monday “Lunch & Learn” Series by Allegra Marketing. Each Monday, we will share a post from a 4-part series of marketing information and ideas. This series will discuss the basics of marketing and will provide marketing solutions for enterprises looking to improve their business-to-business marketing. The topics that will be covered include defining the ideal client, differentiating your business, segmentation and messaging and communication channels.

We hope you enjoy Part 1 of Marketing Solutions 101 for Business to Business!

Defining the Ideal Client

The first element of a successful marketing plan or the first step towards successful marketing solutions is identifying your ideal client or target audience. A target audience consists of the businesses and individuals that are most likely to want or need what you have to sell. Before creating a marketing plan, it is critical to define your target audience and create a profile of your ideal client so you can properly generate marketing solutions that will attract this audience. After identifying your ideal clients and target audience it will be much easier to create marketing solutions around their identity and needs.

There are numerous questions you may want to ask in an attempt to define your target audience. These questions include:

• Where is the business located?
• In what industry is the business?
• How big the business?
• How long have they been in business?
• What is the business’ annual revenue?
• Is the business a multi-unit business or a sole proprietorship?
• Who in the business are you marketing to? CEO, CFO President, Etc.

There are other questions that may need to be asked, but once you have answered the correct questions and created your ideal client profile, you can then incorporate this information into your marketing solutions. Incorporating this information into your marketing solutions will ensure that you spend less time looking for clients, and once you find these clients they will be more likely to purchase your product or services.