What If I’m really An 18 Year Old Girl, Should You Be Talking To Me Like That?

Quick question, how would your marketing change if you discovered your target market was mostly over 50 years old? Or really loved Oliver Mtukudzi, not John Legend? Or preferred Microsoft to Apple?

• What if you’re sponsoring soccer teams to get my attention, but I’m really into Rugby or Cricket?
• You’re using complicated words, but I didn’t get past high school?
• You’re developing a “great new app” but I use a basic feature phone?
• You’re putting up Bill boards in Borrowdale but I live in Hatfield?
• You’re charging too little for me to believe it’s good quality?
• You’re distributing fliers outside Chicken Inn, But I eat at Mugg & Bean
• You’re taking out full-page adverts, but I don’t read the newspaper
• You’ve got fancy flash animation on your website, but I surf with my phone (can’t see them)
• i could go on and on…

What if you’re talking to me like a 50-year-old man, but I’m really, I’m an 18-year-old girl?

“Well, that wouldn’t happen to us, we know our target market very well”. I doubt that. If you’re anything like the average business in Zimbabwe right now, some expertly done research would show you surprising things about who your target market really is.

Listen, i always say, strategy should be driven by data, not creativity. It’s not good marketing because it’s so creative no one has ever done it before, it’s good because it feels like you’re talking to me…about something I care about, about a solution i believe in.

Ask yourself, do you know what pages on Facebook are popular among your target audience? Do you know what keeps them awake at night? Have you bothered to find out where they hang out for fun?

Probably not. But you should find out. Guessing is one of the reasons your marketing is so expensive

When you get to know me, your marketing will naturally and effortlessly improve. If your marketing isn’t working, maybe it’s because you’ve got it in the wrong place, or maybe, when I see it, I just don’t believe you, or worse, I don’t even care.