Next up in Traffic School Corbett gave us a marketing lesson, explaining that choosing the right market and then differentiating yourself within that market are the cornerstones of effective marketing.
The homework for this lesson is made up of a site critique and then an action plan which Corbett says are critical to my success in the Traffic School programme. Previous homework has been quite simple to complete, just answering the questions that were posed. This activity required me to go away and think seriously about the market that I want to be in. In fact I’m not 100% sure I have the right answers right now so I may continue to ponder these as I move onto the next lessons…
Choosing the right market – Operation Pixie Dust
1. What overall market are you in?
My website targets people who are planning a vacation to Disney World.
2. Have you chosen a sub-market to target (ie based on demographics, geography, interests etc)
No I haven’t – I try and make the content quite open so that it meets the needs of everyone. And I think that might be part of my problem!
3. Is there a particularly under-served segment of this market you could address?
I spent some time yesterday thinking about segments and whether I could target them. Here’s what I came up with:
- Families with small children – I have no experience of this so while it is a segment I wouldn’t want to target it. Plus there are other sites already doing so.
- Adult only travellers – my husband and I fall into this segment on paper, but in reality we don’t do the same activities as other adult only travellers. ie we don’t eat in the fancy restaurants or do spa treatments or play golf. We hit the parks and pretend we’re kids again lol
- Fans looking for news and updates – I personally fall into this category, but I wouldn’t be best placed to serve it. There are already a number of strong sites serving this segment and doing a wonderful job. Plus they’re based locally and do this full time.
- UK travellers – I fall into this segment too, and UK travellers tend to spend longer on holiday in Orlando than US travellers so their needs are different. There is one site already serving this segment exclusively, but I think that it is one I could target.
4. How strongly do you care about this market?
Disney World is a personal passion of mine so I care strongly about this market.
5. Are you good at helping people solve problems in this market?
Yes, friends and family often ask me for advice before they travel to Orlando on holiday. In fact this is one of the reasons why I’m thinking about narrowing my target market to UK visitors. Because when they ask for advice I give them a copy of my books but then I also end up writing long emails and lists of other information that I think is useful to them but which isn’t on my website – because that is aimed more at the US audience.
6. Is there evidence that people are searching for solutions?
Yes, I already have evidence in the form of my own site traffic and product sales. Plus there are other sites in this market with thousands of followers.
7. Taking all of this into account can you improve your choice of target market? Make notes of potential changes or improvements.
I think that I could definitely improve my targeting, especially if I target UK travellers who have a different set of needs. I checked my traffic stats in Google Analytics and people from Orlando represent the third highest group of visitors to my site, but I don’t have any content specifically for their needs. And I don’t really want to target “locals” which might be why my bounce rates aren’t great.
The second highest group of visitors are from London, so I do already reach this segment of the market.
One of the things I need to consider though is my hosting arrangements. I have a dotcom domain for this site and it is hosted in the US. Obviously search engines won’t be my only form of traffic but they are currently my main source and I think I may need to switch to UK hosting if I want to rank well in the UK search engines.
Also I need to think about my revenue streams. Adsense is ok obviously as it localises already. I currently promote the US versions of my Kindle books but they are available in the UK store too so that just involves some link switching. Then I need to think about my Travel Agent affiliation. They are based in the US so I need to check whether they can service UK customers who are just looking for a Disney Resort and tickets. I am already part of the Virgin Atlantic affiliate scheme but I need to join the Virgin Holidays scheme so I can promote package holidays.
USP and Differentiation – Operation Pixie Dust
Corbett talls about how important it is to be different from the competition, to give a visitor a reason to choose your site or product over someone else’s, otherwise you just fall into the “me too” box. Better content or better products doesn’t count as being different.
1. Have you ever thought about what makes your site different to your competitors?
No I don’t think I have really. I started out the site as a blog just to share my experiences, and over time it morphed into something much bigger that I have been driving an income from. I’ve been concentrating on how to make the site look better and be easier to navigate rather than why I’m different from the other competition.
2. What would be your honest answer if a customer asked you: “Why should I spend time on your site instead of one of the others when they’re all on the same topic?”
Right now, with my site as it currently stands I think any answer I gave to that question would be pretty lame.
3. What can you offer uniquely that no other site is offering?
I can give UK visitors the information they need to get the most out of their two week holiday to Orlando. Help them decide the best way to get there, where to stay, how much they can realistically expect to see and do in that time. There is only one other website targeting the UK visitor and it’s actually a forum rather than a content driven website.
4. Now revisit the question: What would your honest answer be if a customer asked you: “Why should I spend time on your site instead of one of the others when they’re all on the same topic?”
I want to be able to say: “There are many websites out there full of information about planning a Disney World ‘vacation’, but as a UK visitor planning a holiday in Orlando your needs are different. Here at Operation Pixie Dust we share our personal experiences to help you choose the best time to go, the best place to stay and the best things to see and do so that you get so much out of your two weeks that you want to go back next year!”