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Is Target Audience Advertising For You?

Book titled: 56 MILLION BEHIND AND RISING by Claude Jollet ISBN:142512828-9

You have something to sell. Why not simply use target audience advertising? Some people think it is more efficient and effective than "traditional" advertising because you are not "shooting" aimlessly.

The short answer is that, with an ad, you are not there to answer questions, or "fully present your case" as it were!

You are not doing yourself a favor
by passively standing behind an ad.

Why is that so? Because you are relying on a few - hopefully well chosen - words and sentences in the ad to persuade your target audience to buy what you have to sell. In my opinion, that is the ultimate "one size fits all" solution � with all its shortcomings!

When you use target audience advertising, you are assuming that your target clientele already knows all they need to know about you, and is already convinced of your expertise and your potential as a solution provider. That is a dangerous assumption to make.

When your name and reputation are not already solidly established, you need to inform - and convince - your prospective clients of your capacity to be of help to them. You need to build your credibility.

When you have been in business for several years, and have an increasingly well known and respected brand name, then you can afford to use target audience advertising under very specific circumstances. It might be to test a given market for a new product, or to acquire information on a given target clientele.

Simply listing the virtues and characteristics of a product or service is not - by any stretch of the imagination - informing your audience of your capacity to serve their best interest. And comparing yourself to the competition is far from sufficient either.

The Case of The Store Owner

Put yourself in the shoes of a small store owner.

If you are fortunate enough that someone decided to stop and enter your store, the last thing you would think of doing is remain silent, avoid eye contact or worse, retreat to the back store in the hope that the person will persuade herself, on her own, to buy something.

Admittedly, some large stores do precisely that, but they have to sell at rock bottom prices, cut expenses to the bone, and sell in gigantic volumes. They usually don�t even bother with target audience advertising.

You are not, and do not want to belong, in that league!

No, it goes without saying (but I will insist on saying it anyway �) that you must put yourself at the entire disposal of the prospective client to answer any questions � and you had better be ready with useful answers.

You want to make a favorable impression right from the start. (Target audience advertising is not the most suitable of instruments to achieve that, because it is not designed for that purpose).

The Courting

You start by making eye contact. You smile at the person. Your entire body language transmits the message that you have acknowledged the presence of the person in question and that you are at her entire disposal should she need any information. You do not intrude or put any pressure. After the second eye contact, you might even say: "I'll be right here if you need me".

That is a far cry for cold impersonal target audience advertising, isn�t it!

Right then and there, you may get her to buy something with a quick sales pitch.

But, how do you know if she got what she really needed? Have you left her with compelling reasons to come back? Will she share her shopping experience, as a positive or a negative one, with others?

Sure, you've made a sale. But, maybe, just maybe, you could have made ten sales! Or even 20! You're in the dark because you know nothing of your customer!

You never took the time to find out who she was, what she was really looking for, and what you could have done for her.

Sure, you can make a sale (or sales) with target audience advertising. But you can kiss long lasting customer relationship goodbye! However, it's long lasting relationships that bring back your customer, and motivate her to speak favorably of you.

Oh, well! Some business people prefer to go for "a bird in hand �".

As a responsible store owner, all your initial behavior is concentrated on establishing a friendly atmosphere, setting the stage for the first contact and exchange.

The person walked in, not knowing if you could help her or even if she could find what she needed. She may not even be in your shop to buy. She may just be looking for information.

You first mission is to make her feel comfortable and welcome. You must do everything in your power to facilitate a friendly exchange. Ideally, the first words between you should come from her. Try that with target audience advertising!

You should never assume that your visitor is ready to buy.

An Ad Does Not Add to Much

An ad does not add anything useful to your reputation as a supplier of solutions that are well adapted to customer needs. Nor can it convince people that you have their best interest at heart.

An ad is sales oriented. Target audience advertising is sales oriented. If an ad were sufficient to get sales, and repeat business, then all you would need to do is plaster your store walls with ads � and wait in total silence behind the cash register!

Sounds ridiculous? Well, believe it or not, many business people believe that they can be successful simply by repeatedly hammering the same sales pitch (sometimes reworded), over and over again � on TV, on the radio, in newspapers, in magazines, or on billboards.

It's like shooting duck from ten feet away with a 12 gauge shotgun. You get the odd unsuspecting duck (or what's left of it) � but all the others have flow away! Some hunter!

Proof that target audience advertising is a partial solution, at best, is that it has to be repeated to be effective. Next to useless, and costly to boot!

On the other hand, an enviable reputation, once acquired, is present in the mind of your target clientele at all times. Priceless and efficient.

A Web Site as Proxy

Your Web site is your official representative in the world. You trust it to speak in your name. Consequently, you structure your Web site, and its contents to build confidence and trust. It must give answers and helpful information in your physical absence. Your Web site content must anticipate every hesitation and interrogation.

If you limit yourself to target audience advertising tactics right on your home page, and continue doing so throughout your site, in flagrant disregard of your target audience needs, then you will miss the target � and the target will shy away, never to come back in your sights!

Credibility is essential in commerce. All it takes to build it is
truly helpful Web site content,
offered in an obvious altruistic manner.

You only offer a solution, be it a product or a service, after having sufficiently established your credibility.

Throughout your Web site, you concentrate on helping your prospective client decide. The decision to aim for is one that will be of mutual benefit.

However, target audience advertising assumes that your target clientele is already convinced of your credibility. Its only purpose is to persuade people to buy.

You, through the use of your Web site, must first try to
convince your audience
of your expertise and
total commitment to be of help.

Then, and only then, can you afford to persuade. But, by then, only some "soft" persuasion will be required. The prospective client will likely have already decided to trust you, and part with some of her hard earned money.

No amount of target audience advertising can ever achieve that better, or more consistently, than a Web site chock-full of helpful and reliable information.

Stay tuned!

Do come back often. I will be adding to this site regularly.

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