Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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As much as you can, you should determine your business's role in helping people improve their lives.
You won't know every detail as I've listed below, yet you should have one or more composites (aggregated models). Based on those composites, you can determine how to best serve your clientele.
Founder of The Limited (clothing retail chains), Leslie Wexner used the public image of Cybil Shepard as a guide for determining needs & desires of women served by some of his stores. He didn't know much about Cybil Shepard, just what she was like in public.
For brevity, I didn't go deeply into any of factors. I just want to introduce these & possibly add more details in the future.
These factors are in a hierarchy.
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Here are my interpretations of this Hierarchy of Needs related to marketing.
Fulfillment of each level above #1 requires a modicum of maintenance of the lower levels. It's hard to be fulfilled without optimum health & safety.
1. Biological & Physiological needs - People need to maintain a comfortable level of health or, if necessary, regain that level.
The most basic of these needs are breathing, drinking & eating.
2. Safety needs - People need protection from environmental & weather related hazards plus personal security based law & order, limits, stability, etc. The urges of fight or flight strongly apply at this level.
This is self-preservation, maintaining homeostasis & protecting what one considers to be important to herself/himself.
Note: Some are comfortable with risky behaviors &/or being self-destructive.
3. Belongingness & Love needs - These involve being cared about (somebody is personally concerned about me & I'm personally concerned about somebody) & many times being actively cared for by somebody. These are outer directed but also focused on how they affect somebody personally.
Light hearted example - I know there are people who are glad I'm alive - people in a life insurance company. That isn't an example of personal concern.
4. Esteem needs - These involve feeling valuable to oneself & to others at varying degrees. These are inner directed.
5. Self-Actualization needs - These urge people create & sustain value for others & oneself.
Personal Case Study
For brevity, I didn't go deeply into any of factors. I just want to introduce these & possibly add more details in the future.
These factors are in a hierarchy. How much emphasis to put into any of these depends on niche members' quality of life & responsiveness to marketing messages.
I'm violating some personal privacy to show how to apply this marketing wisdom.
Awareness - I know healing is more than dealing only with symptoms. After losing confidence in medical doctors, I reconsidered the validity of Chiropractic care. I studied it more & determined it's true - consistent nerve impulses are better for optimum health.
Priorities - I needed to improve my health, so I could improve my life & fulfill my responsibilities.
Value - I needed & wanted a better life, not just an existence.
Relevance - I know I needed to do more than just to address this problem. This problem has prevented progress in other aspects of my life. My problem was more than physical pain, I was declining.
Trust - Chiropractors are dedicated to the same goal; we agree about the importance of remedying & avoiding subluxations.
AIDA - When I heard about foot scans & inserts, I decided to get some.
Attention - I heard about foot trouble causing &/or aggravating other problems. It resonated (rang true). I recognized the validity.
Interest - After my parents went into an assisted living facility (& especially after they died), I was the only person willing & able to be in charge of their affairs. We couldn't afford to pay anybody to do what I did. I wasn't ready for the physical demands of dealing with their possessions. To inventory, sort & clean, I had more bending, squatting & reaching to do. My knees were getting far worse despite self administered adjustments.
Desire - I needed, wanted & deserved a better quality of life - vitality sums it up in one word. (This is a quick way to define the main issue.)
Action - By myself, the most I could do is maintain my current condition, but instead of maintaining, I was only decreasing my rate of decline.
Satisfaction - To a limited extent, I was improving with spinal self-adjustments, but I knew I'd need professional service soon. Yet, by doing what was necessary for my parents' estate, I was neglecting my personal needs. For full satisfaction, I needed Chiropractic care.
Another way to express the meaning of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
Here are some stereotypical (slightly exaggerated) cat & dog traits. These are not necessarily true in every case.
Self-Actualization doesn't matter to animals, the other four levels are important. Cats are OK with self-actualization as long as it doesn't interfere with a person's cat centered duties.
As long as a human provides suitable food & water plus toys, physical affection & comfort (clean litter box) - including a warm lap, a cat will tolerate that person.
Dogs will risk death or injury to help people because belonging & love are important to them.
Cats realize the importance of risking death or injury, so they expect that from people.
Copyright 2016 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
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