The Concept of Laser Advertising

Here at Dunthorpe we’ve noticed a growing trend in 2010 –companies are fine tuning their marketing by focusing on a small highly targeted group of companies that offer them the best opportunity for business - Target Account marketing. This kind of focus could be driven by smaller budgets this year combined with aggressive new business goals. But with Target Account marketing we’re consistently seeing this kind of approach paying off.

It goes like this: you pick 500 to 1,000 companies that match the profile of your ‘best’ customer. You build out a list that includes two or three people in each organization that are confirmed to have the responsibility and the need. Then you invest in frequent and regular marketing ‘touches’ that motivate responses, and lead to a conversation with them.

Over time you’ll find that you may have been able to get into a dialogue with 10% to 15% of your targeted accounts, and in turn, your sales team has started the sales process with this high end group.

The cost per ‘touch point’ may be slightly higher than your usual programs, but the pay off is very different. And consider it this way, how much would it cost to do a more general marketing program to a much larger audience in order to get responses from high level decision makers at 15% of your top accounts? Far better to fine tune it right at the start, knowing that any interaction with a Target Account prospect has far greater value. We’ve been calling this ‘laser advertising’ to help contrast the value gained from each Target Account interaction compared with a general advertising or marketing program.

Another payoff which makes everyone happy is that marketing can really help pave the way for their sales colleagues. The TA marketing program will have raised awareness, positioned the organization as an expert in the field, and prompted some interaction. Then sales get involved and leverage that momentum to do what they do really well: building a personal relationship and closing deals.

So there you have it – Target Account marketing or ‘laser advertising’ – to your most important audience. I’ll be presenting some best practices and lots of case studies looking at different programs that took this approach in our next educational webinar and I hope you’ll join me.

With thanks
Mairi Burns
Director of Client Services
Dunthorpe Marketing Group