One of the most important aspects of marketing and advertising is making sure you’re telling the right message to the right people. Understanding what drives your customers to make a purchase creates a much more effective message than just simply getting your name out there. You won’t see a company that sells baseball cleats run commercials on Lifetime, just as you won’t see print ads for a sugary breakfast cereal in National Geographic. Placement of the right media in the right channels is what reaches your audience the best, and you have to know whom you’re talking to in order to start.
What is it that drives your particular customer? Are they more interested in price, or are they honed in on the benefits that your product offers to make their lives easier? Research has shown that many purchasing decisions are instinctual, that is the brain thinks first and foremost in terms of its innate preferences. That means it is much more difficult to convince someone of what you think your products offer, as opposed to highlighting what speaks to them best.
Take a hammer for example. A company has designed a brand new hammer made from a softer material that lasts twice as long as a standard hammer, and they are excited to show all of their potential customers how durable it is. They run print ads, they get active on social media, and they even have a spokesperson. But no one is buying the hammer because they didn’t tap into what matters most to their customers- is it strong enough to drive nails into a board? With proper market research and planning, they could foresee issues like this and tailor their advertising messages accordingly.
Once you have your message down, the next phase is to make sure it reaches the right people. If you have an audience that likes to read, your budget needs to focus on print. Not just print however, but the right types of publications. The aforementioned hammer purchasers are much better reached in Popular Mechanics than Time magazine. Planning the placement of your media is key to maximizing your marketing budget and your ROI.
Need help with any of these phases of the marketing process? Harmon Group has decades of experience in finding what makes buyers tick and the industry knowhow to place the right media.
If you want to know more about what we can do for your brand or business, contact us.
Until next time,
