Episode 185: Why you need to look at your cold markets
Don't just look at your competitors. In today's episode, Fiona talks about how we get so caught up in what we usually have a look at, are hot, warm markets that we forget to look at cold. Tune in!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
On marketing
Looking outside your direct competitors
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Resources and Recommendations mentioned in this episode:
Hello and welcome to episode 185 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. Today, it is a quick tip episode, and that is really where I talk you through a tip tool or tactic that you can implement immediately and all of this within 10 minutes. So before we get stuck in, I just want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on this beautiful land in which I am recording this podcast. Absolutely stunning today. It's one of those days where you just feel like, okay, I can just let go of all the crap that's happening in the world right now. And just focus on this incredible nature that it's ahead of me. So yes, the people that own this land on which this nature is The Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and I pay my respects to their elders, past present and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded. All right, let's get into today's cool tip episode.
All right. So I have worked with literally thousands of small business owners. Now, this is my seventh year in business. And prior to that worked for 15 years in marketing content and brand roles across Australia and the UK. One of the exercises that I'll do with clients sometimes when I'm doing a workshop with them, or sometimes when it's one-on-one coaching or group coaching, we definitely look into this as well is audience mapping, but going a lot deeper than just the standard kind of demographics or ICA kind of questionnaires. And so an ICA for anyone who is listening, who's like, does ICA mean that is your ideal client avatar or your ideal customer avatar? Another way of saying your ideal audience, but one of the parts of this sort of deep dive into your audience that I work with clients on is to map out your markets and one of the things, or your map out kind of the industries or sectors, and we have hot, warm and cold.
So literally we kind of sit there brainstorming, and we are like, hot are the sectors or industries or people or companies that are ripe. They are like, yep. I understand the problem. I understand you, the solution, I'm literally looking at you and some competitors and that's it. There's not really a whole lot of like handholding and kind of education that's needed with that group. Then you've got the warm and there are people who may have heard of that kind of solution may not realize there's a solution. They understand that there's a problem. And so they're sort of looking around and definitely will need a bit more education in terms of why the solution or how you can help them best. And also like quite often, they're in the very thick of the problem. And so they're sort of like, “Okay, is there a solution, or are we kind of just stuck here?”
And so that's kind of the warm, and then what we look at is the cold as well. And there are companies that are so far from the ideal that you're like, maybe they don't even realize there's a problem. They definitely don't realize there's a solution and that you are it, but also maybe they're just in the industry that does not even for a second look at companies like yours. So let’s say, for instance, you were working in, I'm just thinking off the top of my head, like really high-end chandeliers, let's say, that's your business. And you might think, okay, let's have a look at hot, maybe boutique hotels, may be particular types of houses, whatever. And then you move on. Maybe the cold might be hospitals, hospitals aren't really potentially looking for high-end chandeliers. And so, and again, just making this up off the top of my head.
So totally probably could have thought of a better example, but let's say let's just stick with that one. The hospitals are like, so in the cold bucket where you're like, no, there's just no connection here. But one of the things that I love to get people to do is to then to take that cold list and be like, how could we work with them? Why might a hospital be interested in a chandelier? Because it's very easy to look at your hot market and be like, yeah. And even your warm, it takes more creativity to look at the cold market and try and get really curious as to how might that really work? And I guess that brings me to today's tactic, which is to look outside of your competitors. And when I say outside, I really like to push the boundaries.
So what often happens is that when you start a brand or when you're thinking of free rebranding, or you are adding a collection, or you're doing something different, what will often do is look at the other companies that are like us. And if you ever work with an agency, or even if you just go through a marketing course, you will often find competitor analysis as one of the first things that you will do. So looking at the competitors, where do you sit in line with your competitors? And I'm not for a minute saying that's not important. It is. But I think what we can often then get stuck in is just looking at our competitors, looking at the hot markets around us, or looking at the sectors that we are gonna work with. So whether it's a competitor or whether it is a sector.
So if you are, let’s say you're an HR consultant, you might be like, I work with banks. I work in Australia, the big four banks and that's who I'm going after. And there's this other person out there. And she does exactly what I'm doing and I'm watching what she's doing. And she just put a book out and now she's doing this on Instagram, and now she's doing these LinkedIn things. I should start doing that, nothing wrong with that. But sometimes you can just get stuck in that instead of going, I'm an HR consultant. I work with the big banks, but I'm actually gonna have a look at what this incredible roller escape company in the US is doing because actually, the way that they've penetrated the market and the way that they have come across in their videos and the way that they're writing LinkedIn articles about bringing back to work actually has got me all inspired of what I could do.
And I know it can sound really obvious, don't just look at your competitors. Look further than that, but we don't do it enough. I think we can get really stuck. And you see it quite often, you see it in, I've worked in big companies for beauty consulting into beauty companies. And they'll often be like, well, this mascara company in the US is doing this and we should do this here. Or, this skincare company. I love them because they do this and this. And it's like, that's great. It's really good to look at that. But what would be the opposite of your business or what would be kind of maybe like a camping company and you're like, update, let's have a look at what they're doing. What do I like, what do I not like, what could we potentially do in our business that is influenced or inspired by them?
Never a complete copy. Let's just be clear, but inspired by them. And I think we just don't do it enough. So if you think back to that exercise that I run through, sometimes with clients, hot, warm, cold, and you have a look at competitors and you go hot, there's a whole bunch of people that do the same thing that I do. Or there's a whole bunch of e-commerce sites that are selling the same sort of product that we do. Okay. That's hot. You can figure that out. Warm might be, there's a bit of a link there, but not exactly the same. And then when it's cold we don't do anything like that. We do not maybe even serve the same clientele, but I just really wanna have a look at what they are doing. How have they done really well? You could have a look at like top butchers, how have they sold themselves on Instagram?
Maybe your business has absolutely nothing. Maybe you're like a vegan shoe company. So you are definitely not like butchers, but you can take some influence from them or just even inspiration. And we don't do that enough. So it could just be, once a quarter that you sit down and have a look at this stuff, it could be something more regular that you're doing. It could be starting to have a look at just different industries on Pinterest or have a look at different hashtags or things like that. I mean, there's so much research out there. There's so much available for us to research, I should say, but we don't do it enough. So that's really the tactic to look outside, look at your cold competitors, your cold markets, what are they doing? And maybe you'll find the most incredible ideas from a market that you have not ever considered looking at.
Definitely not for a minute saying that you shouldn't do a competitor analysis and keep an eye on those things, but don't just stay in that arena. Definitely look, what else is happening? Sometimes the most incredible things can come out and I actually love the business that I'm in because I see so many different industries and yes, I predominantly work with creative, small business owners, but occasionally I have consulted with health companies, tech companies, construction law. And I always find that really fascinating because it's not an area that I look at a lot. Let's say construction, as in big construction companies with huge buildings, global companies. That's not what I look at a lot. So it's really interesting to be like, okay, what are their challenges? How do they overcome them? How are they getting the word out? What sort of obstacles do they have?
Are they using social media? How do they use it really well? I think that we just don't look at that enough. I know in my own life we have a plumber. I don't know what the name is. I wish I could have looked that up because I could have given them a free plug, but there is a plumber that services, maybe a plumber or electrician. Anyway, that service is in my area in North Warrendale. And they do a really good job of putting literally like flyers, like direct mail straight into your letterbox. And it's not the usual junk that just sort of ends up recycling or going into pet boxes or whatever. It is just really thoughtful stuff. And my husband has even commented a few times and been like, they have really good marketing.
I'm like, they do good marketing. It's quite simple, but they stay front of mind. And they, every time that I see it, I'm like, “I wonder who does their marketing or who comes up with these ideas” because they're really simple, but they're really effective. So for example, just before Christmas, they gave gift tags and they were not branded religiously or anything like that, but they had gift tags. And then they had just had a little bit of a reminder about things can sometimes go wrong at Christmas, if you need a plumber, you know where to go, but they had gift tags that were really useful for all those gifts that you give around that time of year that we don't have any of those sticky labels left. So it was useful, but it kept you in front of the mind.
It was also seasonal. It went with what people were doing already and plumbing. I wouldn't be looking at plumbing all the time because sometimes looking at creative, small businesses or furniture makers or ceramicists, or interior designers, whoever I work with. And so that's just it. That is the problem. We get so caught up in what we usually have a look at, are hot, warm markets that we forget to look at cold. So that is it for today's quick tip episode. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review. It just really helps us get found by other small business owners. And if you loved it, I would love to know what stood out for you and also what markets might you start looking at. So you can always send me an Instagram DM. I'm just @mydailybusinesscoach. Thanks so much. See you next time. Bye. Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you wanna get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram @mydailybusinesscoach.
