When we think of marketing and design we tend to think about having the best and most beautiful content to garner attention and drive engagement. The key thing a great strategist remembers is that “the best” is subjective, and hanging your Mona Lisa in your local skate shop isn’t going to generate the same kind of attention that it would in the Louvre.
As a business or artist, you’re aiming to service a portion of the population, and while we can be wishful and hope that “everyone” will be interested in what we have to offer, the reality is that is almost never the case!
Your target audience are the people who might actually convert into customers. To make the biggest impact, and to get the most out of the time and money you’re investing into your brand and marketing, it’s essential to be realistic about who is going to be interested in what you’re selling.. For example; Their interests and hobbies need to line up with your brand, they must be able to afford your service, and they if they’re not in the area you provide to they’re not a potential client...
We’ve all heard the analogy about creating ripples in water with a pebble; throw a pebble into the ocean and the ripples are lost amidst the waves. Drop that same pebble into a puddle and you’ve created your own waves. The same goes for marketing.
Shorter ad campaigns with materials that are designed for smaller, more specific groups of people are proven to be more cost-effective and generate more engagement and click throughs than large scale, generic schemes. Why? Because your marketing budget is going straight into putting your brand directly in front of people who already have an interest in what you’re offering and who are likely to engage with your content.
There are other benefits to tailoring your marketing to the passions and preferences of specific audiences as well; Firstly, by aiming to present your specialized skills, services or product in the best and most relevant manner to your niche market, you are distinguishing yourself from your competition. Giving them imagery and messages that resonate with them means your brand is the one that comes to mind first.
You’re also avoiding the risks that generic advertising has in potentially pushing away your existing customer base by overwhelming them with content they have no interest in, and in the current social media based climate, disassociation is only a single click away.