Must be Doing Something Right

The other day my 5 year old daughter was "helping" me shovel the driveway of one of my customers. As we were working, she said to me: "Daddy, I know a way that you can make money. In the summer, you can mow people's lawns for money." Those few little words made me very happy. Who to teach their children good things? Who doesn't want them to learn those things? Obviously, she has been learning well, and I hope that as she grows, she will continue to learn good business principles.

As for me, I am still learning. One of the things that I am finding that I am very fascinated with is marketing. The ability to tell people about your product and convince them to buy it, all without meeting them (for the most part). I don't remember the number off hand, but people are bombarded with an enormous amount of advertisements every day. How can you get yourself to stand out from the crowd? How can you be noticed?

I'm still not really sure all of the details, but one thing that I am learning, is that people don't want to be bothered, especially with things they don't care about. That is why it is so vitally important to understand your target audience. Many entrepreneurs, when asked who their target market is, will respond with "Anyone who will buy something from me!" While that sounds great on the surface, here is why that is one of the most terrible and damaging attittude you can have towards marketing.

Let's say you are an automobile manufacturer. Let's say you're GM. Let's say you're trying to sell your brand new and improved Buick Century. In this example, you have only two advertising options. One is in a magazine about iPods, the other is in a magazine about retirement planning. Do you advertise in both then, to maximize your exposure? I realize this is an obvious example, but clearly, someone reading an iPod magazine is very unlikely to have any interest in a Buick. They are driving a Honda Civic or a Toyota Prius. They are more likely a youthful crowd that wants a small, efficient vehicle. Would you spend $10,000 for a magazine ad targeted at this group for your Buick? What about the retirement planning magazine? I would bet that the people reading that are a little older and more conservative. They want a bigger vehicle that is comfortable with a few luxuries but that won't break the bank. Perhaps they might be a better choice to try and reach? It seems so simple and obvious, but I see these kinds of things all the time.

What about those annoying jingles you always hear? The other day my daughter came home from a friend's birthday party with a pack of Juicy Fruit. As soon as I saw it, I started signing the Juicy Fruit song: "Juicy Fruit, it's gonna move ya!" Amazing advertising, right? Well, I'm not sure about everyone else, but I know for sure that I have never had any Juicy Fruit before.

These days, it is so vitaly important that you reach the right audience with an effective advertisement. Advertising can be very expensive, but I like to look at it like an investment. If you do your research and make sure you are reaching your target market, you can be sure that your advertising dollars are being well spent and are bringing you in money instead of just inserting silly jingles into people's heads.

Juicy fruit, the taste, the taste the taste is gonna move ya...

Dad