As a science major in high school STP was a profound concept.
A great reference point for the behavior of materials: how they performed at or as they deviated from Standard Temperature and Pressure.
The concept and its implications have never left me.
Ready for some chemistry lessons? -just kidding.
But I still want to talk to you about STP.
Because a cool way to learn anything and get it to stick is to find a simple and easy way to break it down and a mnemonic that helps you remember.
I learned S.
T.
P.
in chemistry and have found it to be fundamental in marketing also - of course the meaning is different.
S -Segmentation: Answers the question 'who/which customers will you choose to serve?' For example I got into real business via Multi Level Marketing.
Profit levels were fixed (bad) but you could sell to anyone.
I was excited.
I was going to get rich.
Certainly everybody wanted good health - which is what I was selling...
I went flat out the first year.
Sometimes I got so busy I would just throw the cash in my Jacuzzi until I got around to counting it.
Pretty soon I realized that there were some unsavory customers that I did not like and there were other who did not like me or fit my style.
After months of burn out and personal discomfort, It finally came home to me Segmentation is not an option it is what every smart marketer should do for sanity, effectiveness, profitability and happiness.
Go pick a SPECIFIC marketplace segment...
to focus on.
Proper Market segmentation is at least 80% of your success.
T- Targeting: Whether you are macho and belong to a gun club or you play the more genteel game of dart - maximum points and highest probability of winning come when you hit the bull's eye.
Consider my current passion, to help business uncover their strategic profit and performance leverage point, when I am working with an enterprise I like to ask then to tell me 2 or 3 strategies they will use to growth in the next 12 month.
Think of it this way; a party of friends is going deep sea fishing.
Some are armed with fishing lines and worms, some have speak guns, some have nets and look on has a pistol! Who will bring in the most fish?? My mentor Dan Kennedy always says, "the bait must match the critter" Targeting is about economically - (not necessarily cheaply) reaching the customers you choose to focus on.
P-Positioning: Who is the prettiest girl at the party? What's your favorite beverage - Coke, Pepsi, tea, coffee or the 'un-cola' (7 Up/sprite)? Positioning is all about designing your image and value offer so you stand meaningfully apart from your competitors - it is a battle for a space in the mind and must be anchored on a concept already present - so we all know who's a queen, ergo Ezine Queen, Self Esteem Queen, Fitness Queen or Queen of Green.
Anyone familiar with the concept of attraction marketing and can use the appropriate market- message-media mix can be Queen of King in their chosen segment.
I am still amazed at how often I see the same copy used to sell the same type of product/program by marketers who ought to know better.
"Me too" marketing and "copy cat" marketing don't work /don't work for long.
Being an entrepreneur means getting to rally know your market, finding the value that you can uniquely bring to a choice segment and doing so with pizzazz That, my friend is STP Use STP In Your Business Look at your current business and develop your own customized STP formula.
To customers who _______________ (what are they looking for?) I /my company offer(s) _____________ (push the hot buttons you can best/uniquely address) because____________________ (big psychological trigger + credibility factors) This is guaranteed to bring more clarity and focus about your niche and the value you offer.
Your business will also become more magnetic and attractive to your ideal clients.