We work with many different types of Challenger Brands. All of them feel that they understand their customers, their market and unique positioning. But time and time again, we see that many of them make a very common, and expensive, marketing assumption.
When it comes to marketing strategy for your company, product or service, remember this… it’s not about you. It never was about you. And it will never be about you.
No matter how well you think you know your target audience, make a conscious effort to remove yourself from the messaging and advertising. It doesn’t matter that your ad speaks to you personally. It doesn’t matter that you like the colors. It doesn’t matter that it motivates you. It only matters how it appears to your target audience.
Who cares what you like?
It’s so easy for all of us to put personal likes and dislikes into our advertising and messaging decisions. Be honest now. How much of your advertising and messaging decisions do you base on what you personally like? The reality is, it doesn’t matter if you like it or not. The only thing that matters is whether your target audience will be motivated to buy.
So what’s a marketer to do? Here’s how we approach it.
- Know your audience inside and out.
- Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you know your target market well enough. Even if you fall within the target audience, you still don’t know them. You only know yourself. Many people feel that their opinions and beliefs mirror their peers’. That’s not typically the case. Don’t base decisions as large as this on your gut feeling alone.
Do the market research. Talk to your customers. Talk to your sales people. Answer the phones every now and then and speak directly to your prospects. Do everything you can to get into the shoes of your prospective customers. That’s the best way to be sure that your advertising is speaking to the right people.