This blog is one in my series: The Golden Rules of Marketing. Missed Golden Rule #1?
#2: A is for audience
The best business people and marketers talk about their audiences with alarming specificity. They know far more than their customers’ postcode, occupation and income. The savvy marketer understands her audiences’ political views, patterns of behaviour, true desires and anxieties.
They know what makes their audiences tick and they know what makes their audiences buy / join / contribute.
More than that, the best marketers know when and how to reach their desired audience en masse in the most effective way.
Using their knowledge, the savvy marketer creates / tweaks brands and products to fit their desired audience.
Yep – in that order – audience first – brands and products second.
Commercial examples include how U.S soft drink peddlers rebranded long-established soft drink brands to target Latino and African American kids and how Toyota created luxury brand Lexus to reach quality-seeking but status-hungry customers.
In both cases the audience was identified and products / brands created accordingly. Lexus gave rich people a justification to spend $100,000 on a Toyota.
Too often I meet mediocre marketers who speak in broad terms about their audiences. They barely divide their audiences into sub-groups. They don’t talk about personae. They rarely speak of the emotions in the hearts of their buyers nor the concerns in their minds, though this is the way to a prospect’s wallet. They can’t tell me why people choose the opposition.
Mediocre marketers are quick to accept the status quo – “that’s how many people we always get to the conference” or “that’s as much as people are willing to spend.”
Mediocre marketers are keen to assign altruistic / self-referential motivations for a purchase such as:
“They come to us because of our caring approach.” Says who? Maybe they come because of a lack of competition or a strong referral or because you are the cheapest or because you are the most expensive but someone else is paying the bill.
Fundraisers might claim a donation is motivated by a positive previous experience with the charity. Maybe – but it might be because the donor saw the charity in the media or that the donor wants to feel good about themselves or display their anger via a donation.
A savvy marketer is not politically correct and might happily declare that customers come to them because it makes them feel special or high status.
A savvy marketer knows that some clients come to them simply based on price.
A savvy marketer knows that some customers come to them because they’re angry at a situation frustrated by situation or overwhelmed by situation.
A savvy marketer knows that which ever provider can deliver the service or product the fastest often wins.
Want to know your audience better? You are in luck!
I’ve written about the conversion formula which I find a superb way to gain insights into your audience. There’s even a little video for you to watch. Enjoy.