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Target Marketing: A Case Study in Identifying Your Best Prospects, Talking Directly to Them, and Sealing the Deal

By David Frey

The other day I was reading the DM News magazine and it profiled a golf course that was trying to sign up local youth into its golf academy.

There was a great lesson to be learned for small business marketers in this story.

Year 1 - A Miserable Failure

The Links at Shirley in Shirley, New York opened its Junior Golf Academy last year. The golf course had used local advertising and community outreach events to try and sign up new students. Unfortunately, it could only muster up only 10 students.

Year 2 - A Shining Success

In the following year, The Links at Shirley decided to hire a professional marketing firm to help them. This year, the Junior Golf Academy is on track to sign up more than 100 students. Each student represents $400 in revenue and when you throw in referrals and renewals, that figure goes up to well over $1,000 per student.

How They Did It...

The Links at Shirley simply sent out postcards to a targeted list of potential prospects. The postcard was mailed to 4,500 homes near the golf course. They rented a list of people who had a demonstrated interest in golf. They made sure the list included families that...

1. Had at least one golf enthusiast.

2. Had at least one child who was in the age group that he academy catered to.

3. Lived within a 25 mile radius of the golf course.

4. People who lived in zip codes where affluent people lived (within the 25 mile radius).

5. Had an average annual income above $60,000 (golf is not a cheap sport).

In addition, they mailed the postcards in late April, which is the prime season for getting parents to sign their kids up into summer programs. The postcard itself wasn't very flashy. It had a picture of a golf instructor watching a young golfer make a putt. It had another photo of a group of young golfers walking down the golf course and the headline read, "Junior Golf Academy."

The postcard talked about having a very high instructor to student ratio and that it would include semi-private lessons. The offer included a discount for responding by a certain date.

The Marketing Lesson Learned

In year one all they did was brand advertising and some outreach activities. Basically, they "sprayed and prayed." In year two, they got smart and engaged in target marketing. They found a list of prospects that matched the perfect profile for a family that had a very high probability of enrolling.

The response was excellent -- even with a mediocre postcard. This proves that a good offer sent to the right person at the right time can produce outstanding results.

Questions You Should Be Asking Yourself

The following are a few questions to help you evaluate your own marketing activities.

1. Do you know the profile of your perfect prospect?

2. Do you know where to get lists of your prospects?

3. Are you actively targeting those prospects with direct offers?

4. Are you measuring your results so that you can intelligently allocate your marketing dollars?

The Links at Shirley is just another small business. If they can target their market and get outstanding results -- so can you!