Your Job Search Should Be A Focused And Concentrated Marketing Strategy

Imagine this scenario. You're a newly hired Marketing Leader at a consumer apparel company and you have been tasked to market a new line of athletic clothing for the company. Being new to the organization, you are unsure of how to approach this so you decide to sell your product at every type of clothing company that's willing to take it. In essence, you basically ignore any market segment differences and just offer the product to the whole market as one single offering. You tell yourself that if you reach the largest amount of consumers, you are bound to make the largest amount of sales.

This approach is called mass marketing and this typically works well with products that are considered a "necessity", something that almost everyone will be shopping for. However, it does not work well with most other products, such as an athletic clothing line. In this approach, you have overlooked key consumer decision-making factors such as the products' quality, brand image, design, features and functionality, and pricing. My guess is that this new Marketing Leader will not be effective and the new product line will likely fail.

A more effective approach is through targeted marketing which requires you to research the market, understand the consumers you want to target, and approach them specifically through the right channels. This marketing strategy is proven to be much more effective.

So why should we approach our job search any differently?

Similar to the new line of clothing, YOU are the product that you need to market in your job search. The companies and Hiring Leaders whom you want to work with are the consumers you need to target. Your experience and credentials make up the "quality and features" and your compensation requirement is the pricing.

Key Benefits To Targeted Job Searches

Having a targeted job search will enable you, the job seeker, to find the right kind of companies that need and want the expertise that you bring to the table. Two other key benefits include:

Efficiency: Although putting together a search strategy will take a lot more time and energy upfront, you will find yourself connecting with companies and Leaders who are most relevant to what you are seeking rather than spinning your wheels with online applications and auto-generated emails responses.

The Right Fit: Because you have spent so much time vetting the companies you're targeting, you will find organizations that are the best match for you culturally. You'll be much happier and feel more fulfilled in the end.

How to Design a Targeted Job Search Strategy

I have put together a document that goes into further details on how to "Design a Targeted Job Search Strategy" which you can download for free right now. In this document, I will show you how to:

• Define Your Target Audience (which companies you should target)
• Profile Your Customers (identify what type of company they are)
• Reach Your Customers (connect with the right influencers or Hiring Leaders)
• Tailor Your Marketing (refine your message and approach)

Researching and profiling each organization will be a different process for each person, based on the type of role you are seeking. That said, there are general aspects of each business that every job seeker should learn about including:

• Products / Services / Offerings
• Current Performance
• Revenue Size and Employee Population
• Locations and Geo Mapping
• History
• Current Executive Team & Backgrounds
• News / Press Releases
• Culture
• Employment Branding / Market Branding

In the file, "Design a Targeted Job Search Strategy", we walk through how to conduct this research along with how to find the email addresses to the right Hiring Leaders.

Leadership Career Coaching Program

This course "Design a Targeted Job Search Strategy" is the second module of a five-module career coaching plan. Although we normally offer this program in-person, we want to share the valuable content with a broader audience. We hope you enjoy it!

As you review the material, please make sure you allow enough time to fully internalize and reflect upon the information. In our traditional program, we recommend that our clients' spend 2 or more weeks on each module because this is not a task that you should just check off your list. It is a long-term practice that should be built into your career routine.

The other course in our Career Coaching Program include:

• Determine Your Market Value: Build Career Confidence & Insight
• Design a Targeted Job Search Strategy
• Build Your Professional Brand & Network
• Master the Hidden Job Market
• Refine Your Interviewing & Compensation Negotiation

For personalized coaching that is customized to meet your career goals and aspirations, we offer 1:1 career coaching services. Reach out to me directly for more details or check out our website. Enjoy!

#careercoaching #executivecoaching #jobsearch #targetedjobsearch #careermanagement