Conversation: Defining My Customer Defined My Marketing!

A conversation with Linda Wong, MA – Executive Director of SPARK Academy Corp, an after- school tutoring service.

“Your vision and mission will distinguish you from other businesses. However, your message needs to get through to your customers.

 Hi Linda, Thank you so much for taking the time to collect your thoughts here. I know you are busy in more than one location and with many people in your world.

You took the workshop twice. It was great to see you again! Tell me, what was the thinking there?

“When I took the Marketing Intensive the first time, I came to understand, focus and hone my attention to better market my after-school tutoring services. The repetition of the information and the follow-through helped me take action with what I learned.”

Tell us a little more about your business, your goals and thought processes. 

 Well, our day starts when the school day ends. What differentiates SPARK is the collaborative learning environment. We have the background and experience, so the afternoons are joyful and productive for the children. Many students start with us in kindergarten going all the way through their culminating years at their school.”

You came to several one-on-one mentoring sessions after the workshops. What did you learn about reaching your customer? And how did the sessions help? 

“The one-on-one sessions helped me have accountability for my marketing plan and a deeper understanding of my plan. Furthermore, calendaring the action steps for my marketing plan to be successful was enormously helpful.”

Was there any one take-away that you found especially revealing?

“One of the exercises was to clarify the target customers that fit my business. When I worked on that, I clearly defined my attention to who I needed to target my advertising.”

 And it sounds like you got some insights into marketing as well.

“Marketing is critical for the success and survival of any business. Your vision and mission will distinguish you from other business. However, your message needs to get through to your customers. An understanding of marketing,  and implementing the strategies will move your business to a new level of success.”

Looking forward, what do you envision? How do you feel?

I am excited to see my calendared action steps for my marketing plans be successful. I am excited to see my confidence grow as my business grows with these marketing tools.

Val has some afterthoughts – Marketing can be complex, but the basics are really are quite - well, basic.

Simply put, marketing starts with the customer; really knowing the customer, analyzing them from every perspective. What are their media habits, where do they live online, and what are their problems? As much as you understand in Year One, you will understand more in Year Five. Understanding clients is an ongoing journey. And an important one.

The trick is to learn as much as you can as soon as you can. That will make your marketing more effective and more cost effective. Let’s connect. Marketing101Essentials@gmail.com