You're in college, and you've come up with a brilliant
new product or service. The problem? Your target customers
aren't your college classmates--rather, they're people
located off-campus, who fall into a wider age range and lack the
college mind-set. That presents a challenge: How do you target this
group?
Very deliberately and with plenty of market research to back it
up, says Kathleen Allen, director of the Technology
Commercialization Alliance at the University of Southern
California's Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
"You have to work harder to find the potential target
customer," she says. Use the same market research strategies
you would to start any business, such as scouring industry trade
publications and talking to community business leaders. Allen also
suggests using on-campus resources, from state-of-the-art libraries
and computer labs to tips from your professors and advisors, who
can provide guidance on marketing outside the university.
Knowing his local community well was key to entrepreneur Ivan
Lomeli's success. A 2005 graduate of California State
University, Northridge, he started his Glendale, California,
company, Allied Mortgage Consultants, while still an undergrad
in 2002. Helming a mortgage consulting firm that specializes in
mortgage services for the underserved Hispanic community in
Southern California, Lomeli, now 25, marketed his services far
outside the college realm. Direct mail and word-of-mouth buzz were
his primary modes of communicating to his target market, which he
knew well thanks to research and his own experience working at a
loan company since he was 18.
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He focused on detailing how his consultants could simplify the
mortgage process for clients. And when Lomeli would meet prospects
face to face, they'd sometimes be surprised by his age.
"They'd say, 'Wow, you're young,'" he
recalls. "I would just say, 'It's about knowledge and
education--I'm giving you years of great experience.'"
In his marketing materials, he didn't play up the fact that he
was in college, or even that he owned the company--he focused
instead on the services he and the other eight consultants offered
the community. That strategy worked, and Lomeli has grown the
company to about $3.6 million in annual sales and 50 employees.
You can promote your college status to customers outside the
college market, but it can be tricky. Molly Hughes Wilmer, founder
of Vision
Strategic Marketing & Communications, a marketing
consulting firm in Annapolis, Maryland, notes that trendy or
youth-focused businesses could benefit from highlighting the
entrepreneur's college status. But if you're selling
mortgage advice like Lomeli, or other products where maturity is
valued, it pays to play up other aspects of your business.
"It depends on what the student is selling and who
they're selling it to," says Wilmer. "It has to start
with your value proposition, what you're offering your
customers, why you're unique and why you're different from
your competitors. There's no universal answer."