Who are you trying to target with your advertising?
Ever played darts?
I’m sure that most people have picked up a dart and thrown it at a board hanging on a wall a few feet away. The purpose of such a thing? To hit the bullseye. Or in my son’s terminology, “the red spot in the middle.”
I like darts. I don’t think I could sit through a tournament or anything but I don’t mind playing every once in awhile. I even think I’m halfway decent at it. Online marketing should never be like darts.
Online advertising is all about your audience and hitting the center of that bullseye
In one game of darts there are several other numbers you must hit first before actually zeroing on the bullseye. If you hit it before hand, that’s good, but most people save it for last. Your online marketing strategy must not be concerned about the other “numbers” but always be looking at the center of the bullseye.
The people you are putting your marketing materials in front of is your target. These are the ones that you are spending money to attract to your website. Make sure they are the right ones.
Going Broad
One “targeting” strategy is to go broad with your advertising. More like a shotgun blast. I see no problem with this as long as your niche has a broad audience. The problem lies in where you define the boundaries of your audience.
I do, however, see the use in having a broad target for your marketing strategy. Your name is promoted to a greater number of people. This is both good and bad. Good because more people see you. Bad because a lot of those people could probably care less and you’re just throwing your advertising budget out the door.
In your broad marketing strategy I believe it is best to keep it still within a defined bullseye. More specifically your overall niche.
Going Narrow
There were times when I would wish strongly that the bullseye was a little bit bigger. I would repeatedly throw the dart only to miss by a fraction. Sometimes bouncing off the metal rim guarding it.
I had to develop patience and train myself to know, more to the point feel, where the bullseye was. No, I’m not talking about the force or any other cosmic entity. I’m talking about seeing the bullseye a little bit bigger than it really is.
It is talked alot about targeting your audience and having a very narrowly defined niche for the most effective advertising. And it’s right. You must be narrow in your advertising. How?
Once you’ve defined your broader target, begin to see the smaller niche. For example, I recently wrote some ads for a network marketing affiliate. The obvious, broader target is people looking to work at home. And I would definitely advertise to that broad market.
But, the real success is in the more narrow audience. The opportunity was for a company that sells training materials for people who are already network marketers. Now I have a more defined target. I’m not just going to close my eyes and hope for the best. I am going to see the target much clearer now and advertise to people who are already involved in marketing.
Is that narrow enough?
The opportunity also had another level of “uniqueness”. It required about five hours a week of time from each person. That’s something you don’t want to overlook. A time requirement is big for people who are already strapped for time.
Now I’m not only looking for people wanting to work at home, or people already involved in network marketing, but people who are willing to give up some time to purchase this product.
More defined. A lot more narrow market.
It is here where you will see the most success.
