Where to buy a chicken dinner

Let’s say you really fancy a fried chicken dinner this evening.

You don’t feel like cooking, so you start to think about takeaways that might be able to satisfy your poultry loving hunger. Of course, there are dozens of places you could go that sell fried chicken, but chances are, there’s one fast food brand name that will certainly enter into your thoughts. After all, it’s right there in the three-letter acronym. Problem solved.

Fried chicken aside, focussing your business on providing a particular type of product or service is one of the most effective and practical ways to market your business. It comes down to the reasons why people buy – and why they don’t buy.

When people buy a product or service, they’re looking for a solution to a specific problem or to fill a specific desire or want. When I’m hungry I don’t just want to be full. I want the food to taste good and perhaps be healthy, or inexpensive or convenient – or all three. My wants are actually quite specific and I’m going to search for a solution that most closely fulfils my needs. If I’m looking for that healthy option, the takeaway up the road will not be my first port of call – no matter how delicious it may be. A shop that’s called Healthy Options would probably be more likely.

This is great news for small businesses. Since customers are looking to fill very particular needs it means there’s no need for you to try and be all things to all people – you can become a specialist. Simply put, customers have more choice and are more discerning, so for an increasing number of firms, attracting a large percentage of a small pie is more profitable - and more likely - than going head to head with the bigger players with bigger budgets.

To get a feel for the effectiveness of specialisation you can draw a comparison with magazine titles. If you were searching for information on interior design you might find it in a general lifestyle magazine but you’d be much more likely to pick up a copy of Interior Design Monthly.

You’d expect the editors of Interior Design Monthly to know something about interior design even before you open the cover or read a single line. By focusing your own business and marketing message, you can achieve the same immediate level of trust. In other words, you can become the most natural and obvious solution to potential customers’ needs - simply by saying that you are.

Obviously if Interior Design Monthly didn’t live up to your expectations you wouldn’t buy it again and likewise, delivering on this initial level of trust is vital to building a successful business. But, by setting your stall out as serving a particular set of needs (ex. those of would be interior designers) you immediately communicate that you understand their needs and imply that you’ve helped fill the needs of other people just like them.

That aside, the really good news for small businesses with small budgets is that focusing your message has a number of ‘knock on’ benefits as well:

• Targeting a smaller market can help keep your advertising and marketing costs low
• Your message becomes more effective
• You’re more likely to benefit from word-of-mouth
• A compact market is easier to tap into and may have more obviously routes in
• You can build a reputation as an expert within your chosen speciality – opening new doors and opportunities
• Focusing allows you to deliver a better, more tailored, service
• Your message is more credible – no one believes you can be a specialist or expert in everything. i.e. a student bar doesn’t easily double up as chic yuppie hang out.
• You stand out amongst the more general businesses and general marketing messages.

Of course, there are obvious exceptions that may come to mind. Your local supermarket for example. They might well sell insurance, credit cards and loans. However they first became the place to buy your groceries and then used that trust, brand loyalty and footfall to move into new areas. Having said that, these forays into new arenas are not always successful and many brands end up shelving new additions to ‘get back to their knitting’.

Regardless of how you go about it, marketing your business is about positioning yourself as a solution to specific customer needs. The more directly you address those needs the more effective your message will become. Decide what makes you unique and then find the customers who are most likely to respond. Focus.

After all, you wouldn’t want go to a seafood restaurant to buy that box of fried chicken.