Three words most would never expect to see me write.
Why?
Because in the traditional sense of the targeting concept, it means to figure out WHO you are trying to REACH with your advertising(demographic targeting)and buy that media. Whew, this advertising stuff is hard work.
Pardon me for being blunt, but that is stupid.
As Roy H Williams, The Wizard of Ads writes, "I've never seen a business fail because they were "reaching the wrong people." But I've seen thousands fail because they were saying the wrong thing. Please hear me correctly. These catastrophic failures weren't saying the right thing badly, they were saying the wrong thing well. It's amazing how many people become "the right people" when you're saying the right thing. Believe it or not it's advertising third, customer delight second, strategy always first.
In my twenty plus years in dealing with advertising customers, I have heard so many time, "Just put something together, you are the expert." This was regarding the commercial itself. The advertiser was satisfied that they had spent all of their time helping me figure out who that message was going to reach. It never crossed their minds WHY THESE PEOPLE WOULD CARE TO HEAR THEIR COMMERCIAL.
I had the pleasure this week of hearing from a customer that has actually taken to heart the advice I had given him a few years ago. He really works on his message and leaves the scheduling up to me. This particular customer had recently hired a mechanic that is an expert in repairing Honda cars.
He wanted to make him more busy.
He came in and did a very solid commercial. Some might say well targeted. Targeted at people that needed their Honda repaired. Just days after the ad began to air, he started to get calls from "the right people".
I am pretty sure that this guy didn't ask them how old they were or how much money they made or what station they heard the ad on. Why would he care?
They had a Honda that needed repaired. He has a guy to fix it. That is the type of targeting that really count.
Stop trying to reach the right people. Target your message to talk to people that need what you have and people that know people that need what you have. I have word for this type of targeting.....stay tuned to the next blog!
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