How to Ensure YOUR Message Makes it Through

Here’s a thought to consider: Every second on the Internet there are 2,501,076 emails sent, 125,421 YouTube videos viewed, 54,910 Google searches, 7,252 Tweets sent, 2,173 Skype calls, and 728 photos posted to Instagram.

And that’s just online activity.

Don’t even get me started on direct mail pieces, television advertising, bumper stickers, and the chalkboards that sit outside your local coffee shop. We are completely and totally inundated with advertising–it’s nearly impossible to get away.

That’s not even the biggest problem with advertising. The way I see it, the biggest problem with all of that activity is that it’s all screaming for attention.

I’m the best brand!

No, I’M the best brand!

Look at me!

Over here!

Check me out!

Sometimes, I just want to close my eyes, cover my ears, and run screaming in the opposite direction–and I make a living out of digital services! Of course, this just goes to show that we as humans are completely and totally overwhelmed by the amount of information that we have available to us. What’s more, there are hundreds and thousands of the exact same products or services being shoved in our faces every single day.

Consider dish soap! I recently had to go to the store because my home was out of dish soap. There was nearly an entire aisle dedicated to it. Name brands, off brands, funny names, names that I’ll never remember–and they all do the exact same thing, which is clean my dishes. Despite this, there isn’t just ONE dish soap I can choose to clean my dishes. I have to choose from among dozens. Do I want the one that makes my hands softer? Perhaps I should go with the one that fights powerful grease. Maybe I want the one that’s good for the environment.

How do you choose?

Well, that gets us into a little section that I like to call targeted marketing. Targeted marketing is probably one of the most boring, frustrating, and time-consuming elements of starting a business. However without proper targeting, you won’t be able to advertise to that ideal customer–and your business could fail.

Ready for the real kicker, though?

Proper target marketing is required well before you create your brand and your brand messaging.

Consider first the target audience for Dawn dish soap.

Now consider the target audience for Method soap.

Totally different target audiences, right?

You want your brand and your messaging to speak to your targeted audience. Dawn doesn’t pretend to be Method with their advertising–and vice versa. Despite this, they’re both very successful soap companies.

Your target audience consists of people who will probably try your product without having to get hundreds of recommendations from friends and family. However, if your target audience is happy with your product or service, they will tell all of their friends and family about it, which ultimately leads us to the FAN Factor at work.

Categorised in: Content Marketing, Digital Marketing