Hit your headpin: Learn to identify your top target group

How to identify and communicate with your top target group

Reading Time: 5 minutes

 

In bowling, the objective of the game is to knock down all the pins. And, it’s nearly impossible to roll a strike without first hitting the headpin.

The same applies to marketing. Whether you are promoting your own products and services or a client’s, earning the best return on investment (ROI) will require you fully understand the motivations of your top segment, your headpin. This can be applied whether you have a 50+ year old brand or are just starting-up.

How it works

First, reach the group most likely to embrace your offering, then the rest of the segments, pins, will fall.

Why?

Physics.

Hitting your “headpin” group will give you the best shot at fostering brand advocates. These are the type of people motivated by offerings that give them a competitive edge (e.g. new technology like a smartphone).

This supports Everett Rogers’ adopter categorization theory, which segments the distribution of product adaptation. It starts with innovators, then moves to early adopters, early majority, late majority and ends with laggards. Your headpin best correlates with the innovators and early adopters.

Why? Speed time to market

By identifying these groups early, you’ll reduce your investment risk (time and money) in figuring out the problem that needs to be solved. Then, you’ll develop your minimum viable product (MVP) or service and begin learning and iterating quickly. You gain an advantage by flushing out your value proposition early, as you’ll more rapidly be able to scale to the early and late majority segments, necessary to fuel your engine. More on this principle can be found at The Lean Startup.

 

focus your aim

When I meet with new clients, I always ask “who do you want to reach?” I often hear “everyone.” How ideal. However, this blanket approach is rarely efficient or practical. If your efforts aren’t focused you’ll be bowling blind, randomly chipping off pins to the left. To get back to center, you may overcompensate on your next roll and hook it right, straight into the gutter. And, I’ve never worked for a client with no concern for budget. Resources are limited and you’ll efforts will be measured.

Then, there is the “if you build it they will come” approach. This is not a strategy. There is too much noise and competition to sit on the sidelines hoping business will come your way. You can have the shiniest new ball and a hipster thrift-store polyester snap-shirt but if you have don’t aim, let alone roll, good luck bowling a strike.

Without a segmentation plan and linear process, you’ll spend unnecessary energy and money chasing leads. With a plan, you’ll have a qualifiable and precise market fit, and the discipline to say “no.” Take the targeted approach and start with those most likely to consider, convert and champion. You’ll use less energy and gain efficiency, traction and referenceability, useful in providing evidence of your solutions. 

 

Stop guessing. Discover.

We live in an “I want it yesterday” society. This pressure can cause marketing teams to scramble together a campaign without due diligence. And these efforts often fail to impact.

What is required is a discovery phase. It’s kind of like potty-training. The process can be messy. It requires time and patience. And, it doesn’t often satisfy that immediate urge for creative development. But discovery is essential to getting your best return.

Sometimes your discovery will validate your original targets. Other times, you’ll be glad you did your homework.

 

Case Study: The pivot

A mobile scanner startup I was working with was convinced their headpin was crafters. When they went to craft shows to demo the product the audience was not receptive. This group didn’t see the value. The company had the wrong headpin. The good news was this was early in the product cycle before a major media and advertising blitz was scheduled.

Through intensive listening and observation, the company noticed that in almost every family there is a genealogist. Often, these folks are avid collectors of photos and memorabilia. As these items are usually old, one-of-a-kind and delicate, genealogists tend not to part with the items. Once we got people organically talking about this challenge, both online and in person, we realized that the mobile scanner solved this problem for both the genealogists and the family members wanting a copy of the heirloom. Our headpin emerged and we pivoted.

 

How to find your headpin

Start by determining who you believe to be your top prospective groups. Ask who will benefit most from your offering. Note, this is very different than simply stating “I want to sell to this group.” No one wants to be sold to. Think more about how you are bringing value to their lives. What problem are you solving?

If you feel stuck, do some qualitative and quantitative research on the perceived value of your product. And you don’t need a budget to get started.

Begin with your top three target groups. Find out what do they care about and what problems they have. Remember to listen.

methods

1. Social media
   1. Observe their conversations on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You may also pick-up slang and keywords that can make your messaging more relevant and boost your SEO.
2. Surveys
   1. Review what you believe is your value proposition. This will validate or inform you of product benefits you didn’t realize were important.
   2. If you have an email list, use Google Forms for free.
   3. If you need help reaching your ideal target groups try Google Surveys. It’s low cost and will provide meaningful insights quickly.
3. Trends and correlation
   1. Google Trends allows you to see how often a particular search-term performs by location, time, search type and category. You can also compare it to other terms.
   2. Google Correlate finds search patterns which correspond with real-world trends. Enter a term and it provides closely matched terms that people are using. This may be helpful in finding new product or advertising opportunities. For example, if you enter “solar panels,” you’ll learn that there is heavier search in the west and that similar terms include “solar calculator.” With this, you may consider creating a how-to blog, video or tool to capture this interest and serve it in those geographies.
4. Industry trade shows.  
   1. If you believe comic book collectors are the main contender for your headpin status, go talk with them. If your product resonates with them you’ll see it in their reaction. If it doesn’t, they may not be your headpin or perhaps you need to adjust messaging for them based on their feedback.
5. B2B
   1. If you are selling to other businesses, track down a list of industries, companies, and contacts most likely to benefit from your offerings. Your local chamber of commerce or business publication are good places to start. Once identified, interview them.

benefits

Through this discovery, you’ll identify your headpin. Hard data allows you to uncover the key product attributes that move prospects to action and eventually, advocacy. From customer service to the CEO to your board, it will eliminate people guessing how to message. It will give your team a clear target and consistent language.

In the process, you’ll determine who the key-influencers are within the headpin group. Form relationships with these influences, whether it’s for a product review or directly advertising on their platform. If you are developing something for children, find a mommy-blogger that carries weight.

So lace up those retro bowling shoes, cast aside the lingering disgust of all the other feet that were in them prior, and hit your headpin.