Mass Marketing Days Are Over!

Not everyone thinks alike. People are different. It’s why some people will choose red while others will choose blue. Mass marketing casts a net over a reach as wide as possible in an attempt to reach a percentage of people within a specific geographical area. It’s why some fast-food companies will utilise billboards, television commercials and widely distributed print magazines and newspapers. These companies are not your average SME though and their advertising campaigns will usually spread across a nation, not a suburb.

Targeted marketing instead utilises consumer and business information to specifically differentiate customers who fit a buyer persona, and then focus an advertising message which is aimed at them. For example, we all need and require the services of a plumber at some stage or another. If I lived on the south side of Sydney, I would look for a plumber who is based in the south side of Sydney. It would make sense for a plumber located on the south side of Sydney to target their marketing to surrounding suburbs so that they can customise their advertising message to those consumers.

You can customise your targeting so that you are engaging with the right people at the right time. Ever heard the saying, ‘It’s like selling ice to an Inuit’? Take this and apply it to your business model. For instance, if you sell solar powered panels, your Return on Investment (ROI) in a geographical location where there happens to be a high amount of rainfall may not hit the figure you want. This could be a very real scenario if your marketing strategy doesn’t include targeted advertising. Instead, you could target areas where there is a high annual percentage of sunshine and where people are far more likely to understand and see the benefits in installing solar powered panels.

Remember your goal and what you are trying to achieve; do you want brand recognition, or are you trying to connect consumers with a product or service you sell? More often than not SME owners will choose the latter of the two because they know and understand that they need to make the most of the minimal budget they have to work with. Brand recognition will not happen quickly and you need a long term plan to manage this. While you can still use targeting methods to help you, for example, through the use of cleverly targeted ads in AdWords and Facebook, creating and managing a blog on your website, as well as having a Google My Business and Google+ page, are just some of the other techniques which will also assist.

Do your research and get to know your target audience. It’s all about demographics. This is the key element which will help you on your way to developing and creating effective targeted ads. Market research is not a new idea so the question is not if you’re doing it, but how. Some potent tactics includes ad, price and concept testing, reviewing the data and analysing the effectiveness of past campaigns, surveys and questionnaires, word-of-mouth conversations with existing customers, measuring social media engagement, and evaluating web analytics. Making these methods a habit rather than something you only tackle when you need to will ensure the data you collect is consistent and well-informed.

Concentrating on the consumers who are most likely to listen to your marketing statement will establish the industry and brand recognition all SMEs desire. So throw away the net and address your niche! Your direct endeavours will mean you’re heard when you need it most! Get in touch with us today on 1300 859 600 or visit our website to learn how you can customise your marketing for your target audience.

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