There’s a targeting mistake causing most ad campaigns to fail. And if you’re an advertiser, it’s a mistake you’re most likely making.
Who’s your audience? If you ask most brand marketers and agency teams you’ll likely get an answer like: “our primary target audience is Adults 35-54 who are married with kids, dual earners with household income greater than $75k, they live active lifestyles, are involved in community causes, and are heavy users of social media and mobile.”
This kind of demographic, psychographic and technographic profile may be necessary for planning and buying media. But using such a description for developing your creative campaign and content is a big mistake.
Your audience is not a list of characteristics. It’s not a set of lowest common denominators. They are people with wants, needs, desires and feelings.
When you try to develop a message that speaks to a group of statistics you often end up with a story and message that speaks to yourself and doesn’t connect with the customer.
The best marketing and advertising speaks to people on an individual level. Brands that view and define their audience in clear, simple and relatable terms are much more likely to develop a story that people find interesting and compelling.
Let’s look at an example of a brand that has mass consumer appeal – Tide. When P&G and their agency partners buy media to reach consumers who do laundry their audience could be defined in demographic terms as everyone: e.g. Adults 18+.
But trying to develop a campaign or commercial that speaks to everyone won’t lead to a creative story that engages your audience on a personal level.
When I look at the commercial for Tide with Color Guard I see a brand and team that understood very clearly how to define and engage their audience on a personal level.
Here’s how I imagine they defined their target audience: A mom with kids who does multiple loads of laundry every day.
Additionally, I imagine they further explained the struggle or challenge that this mom faces as: Her son made her a t-shirt for her birthday that she cherishes. After a few washes Mom noticed that the color began to fade in her cherished shirt. She realizes a need to find a laundry detergent that gets her family’s clothes clean without fading colors. Mom discovers Tide with Color Guard as her solution.
A campaign that defines its audience in such simple terms with a clearly defined struggle makes it much easier to create a story that establishes a personal connection with your consumers.
Ditch the demographics. Scrap the customer persona. And describe your audience simply as a person with whom you’re trying to have a conversation. This is the best way I know to make sure your marketing and advertising is more successful.
