How can I more effectively target my marketing efforts?

It all gets back to the basics: know your customer - in detail. Once you have your target customer figured out, then direct your marketing campaign with a laser focus. Implement only the marketing programs that will reach that customer, and discard those programs that won't.

Create a Customer Bio
What does your target customer do? How do they learn about new products and services? Which conferences do they attend? What trade journals do they read? To what extent do they rely on the web to get information? Who influences your customers to purchase products like yours? You should know the answers to all of these questions for your target customer, for every market segment where you sell your products and services. Write out a detailed description of your target customer as if you were writing a biography, and keep adding to it as you gain new customers. It will serve you well as you develop and implement your marketing campaigns.

Listen to Your Sales People
Make sure to keep your sales people in the loop when planning your marketing campaign. After all, if anyone knows where your customer hangs out, it's your salespeople; it is their job to go and find them! Produce what your salespeople need to be successful, and make it a habit of asking them what marketing materials work and which don't. If they want you to create a special sales tool that will help close a sale to new customers, then make it a priority.

Take Your Lead from Existing Customers
Sometimes your existing customers will suggest other programs or venues, such as a related conference where you might want to exhibit or a trade journal you hadn't thought about before. In other words, they are giving you clues as to where else they go and other things they read. Add this information to the customer bio and then consider adding these other programs to your marketing plan.

Continue the Programs that Reach Customers Now
You might want to put more money into the venues and programs that bring in customers now, rather than trying new ones. There's nothing wrong with doing the same old programs, attending the same trade shows, advertising in the same places year after year. You are building brands and generating leads, so keep the momentum going. Take out bigger or more frequent ads. Do some additional promotions at trade shows to distinguish your company from your competitors.

Just Say No to Pitches
It's amazing what people will try to sell you. Advertising space in obscure publications. Mailing lists made up of people who would never buy your product. Multimedia services to get your message out to every technological gadget known to mankind. Your own talk radio program during drive time. Advertising on really strange websites.

I get lots of strange pitches from people who want to help me market my books and my consulting services. I get frequent offers to purchase physician mailing lists (I guess they think I launch doctor's medical practices?? Hmm. I don't know if I could launch a doctor.) Recently I've been receiving pitches from companies who are producing a special in-flight airline magazine focusing on business news, and for a mere $5000 or so, I could get a tiny 3-sentence listing for my business in that issue. Sounds rather glamorous, right? Now would someone flying on Delta or American during the month of December during the holidays really be that interested in learning about launching products on their way home to visit family? Uh, no. Although there may be a tiny fraction of a chance that there might be a potential customer on one of those flights who really decides to read the whole in-flight magazine and makes note of my contact information, it's just not going to be worth the money. My customers are companies who need launch help. I know where to find them and where they hang out, and they are not likely to be reading in-flight magazines during the holidays.

Evaluate Past Marketing Effectiveness During the Budgeting Process
Before you put together your next annual or quarterly marketing plan, go through the list of marketing programs that were implemented during the last year and evaluate the effectiveness of each in terms of reaching the target customer. If you've launched a new product in the last year, you may have used a trial and error approach to find out what works. Now's the time to eliminate those that didn't make the cut, especially if the programs were expensive, such as glossy printed brochures or a huge ad in an unfamiliar trade journal. Keep doing the programs that continue to reach your target customer and generate sales. Add the programs that your salespeople or existing customers suggest, or find new programs to fit new aspects of your evolving Customer Bio. If you maintain that laser focus on your customer, your marketing campaigns will be realistic and more effective.