What is “Own Your Market” Anyway?

Have you ever been told to “own the market”? Do you know what this means?

I tell my clients all the time – get as microscopically specific about ANY part of your business as you can, and from there your business will flow. It seems like backwards thinking… getting specific actually feels like you are making a smaller pool of potential customers. And well, frankly, you are.

But a smaller pool of customers is the BEST thing, if you commit to it in the follow through, so don’t worry! Why? Because the more microscopically specific you are about WHO would like what you are doing or WHAT you have to offer or HOW you are going to deliver it (or all three if you can swing it)… the more your perfect customer will resonate with you. The “more” they resonate with you means they will decide FASTER to jump on board with whatever it is you are selling. They will know you, like you and trust you faster because YOU have taken the time to get to know them… or so it will feel to them. You will stand out amongst all the others who are doing exactly what you are doing (really… you can’t honestly say you have no competitors can you?).

Here is a BRILLIANT example of simple ‘ownership of a market’ in a very small way… we’ll say to capture a ‘slice’ of the market… pun intended! I just came across this on FACEBOOK of all things which is an example of another marketing “rule” – right person, right place, right time.

• Facebook Handle: GNI (Girl’s Night In) – Crispy Flatbread Pizza
• Image: all pink and bling
• Facebook Status: It’s a great night for a GNI! With Game 1 tonight, a crazy halloween weekend ahead of us, and the launch of our new Invitation feature, it’s time to break out the bubbly and rally your favourite friends! Check it out in our Invite Your Friends menu option. Happy dining!
• Owning the Market: It’s just a boring old coupon for grocery store pizza… ALL BLINGED UP… it’s talking the talk, looking the look, and microscopically specific. How successful the coupon is, well, only the 4,000+ people who have liked the page could tell… but I suspect Delissio will be pretty pleased with itself for this use of social media. And oh, by the way, that page probably cost them about an hour of some staffers time compared to thousands of dollars in printing other types of junk mail coupons that end up in the trash.

Some food for thought (pun intended). Happy Hallowe’en! Even though they aren’t targeting me tonight (I don’t see any frazzled moms with half-face-painted kids in the ad) I have to run and print my coupon.