The chicken or the egg – what came first?
And when it comes to your business – what should come first – the audience or the channel?
Does your marketing department have a “Greenbelt Sports – Director” or “Digital Marketing – Director”?
“Country Casuals – Director” or “Social Media – Director”?
Why is there so much focus on channels and channel expertise but so little focus on the audience? Ask the typical marketer or C-suite executive who their audience is and typically get a half-baked response.
“Men and women. Between the ages of 25 and 45. Household income of $45,000 to $75,000. Maybe a kid…maybe not. They own their home. And both adults work.”
Or on the business side – “Any business with technology needs our cybersecurity cloud solution!”
You know what – both answers are B.S. Your audience is more than some generic demographics – and you need to know them on a more intimate basis.
[blockquote3]“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker[/blockquote3]
So if you can’t really dive down into an in-depth discussion about the various segments (personas) within your target audience, why bother worrying about channels?
You don’t know who you’re talking to/at.
You don’t know what they need or want.
You don’t know how they perceive your business and offerings.
You don’t know what they expect.
So, in essence, you’ve spent a lot of money to hire someone that understands the digital world (and the non-digital world too). And you have them pushing out who knows what through the channels.
But thankfully their expertise helps you push crap out through those channels more efficiently, right?! I mean, last year, you might have only sent out a million or so emails. This year…the sky’s the limit! #sarcasm
