[3] "MOM" Can Help You Define
Your Potential Target Market:

What they used to call "mass media" advertising hasn't existed in America for decades.

Once upon a time in America, someone who wanted to advertise a local business only needed to run an ad in their local paper; or put an announcement on the bulletin board at Church, or the General Store, or the local Tavern — and "everybody" saw it.

That's not quite so true today.

Well, maybe it could be sort of true somewhere ...

... perhaps maybe in a very small isolated remote village on an island far from regular shipping lanes where there is no electricity and nobody has a radio or television or Internet access.

And once upon a time, for larger advertisers, there were a few venues that reached massive audiences. "Everybody" in America once read mass-circulation periodicals with names like LIFE (1883-1972); and LOOK (1937-1971); and The Saturday Evening Post (1821-1969); and Reader's Digest (1922-).

Most such periodical publications died years ago.

And once upon a time in America, "everybody" used to watch the same programs on TV, or listen to the same programs on radio – on the same night!

Today, many people under 30 probably wouldn't even believe that, but it's true.

The days of mass communication are long gone. Today, most people (if they have time to read at all) are likely to read a widely varying selection of "special-interest" publications. And those who watch TV can choose from a multitude of "special-interest" TV programs.

Today, cable and satellite services provide us with hundreds – or thousands – of media choices for information and entertainment, and ever-increasing numbers of advertising opportunities that reach smaller and smaller special interest segments of the consumer market.

Many popular TV programs (and most news services) are now also available on the Internet, which presents even more advertising opportunities. So how does one choose?

Who's Your "Target Market"? ... How Do You Find Those People? ... Remember MOM!

MOM is an acronym for Motivation, Opportunity, and Means – the three essential factors that make a good sales prospect.

YOUR prospective customers (i.e., those who fit within your target market) are those who:
—1) Have the MOTIVATION to buy, i.e., have a want or need for what you sell; AND ...
—2) Have the OPPORTUNITY to buy, i.e., can easily get to your place of business, OR
——2a) can easily find locations where they can buy what you sell, OR
——2b) Are within your service area if you go to their location; OR
——2b) Can buy what you sell via alternative means, such as online or by phone; AND ...
—3) Have the MEANS to buy, i.e., can afford the price of what you sell.

If the Motivation, Opportunity, and Means to buy what you sell do not exist in a particular population segment, they are not in your Target Market.

The next page discusses how to locate those people who are in your target market.