This month I have caught myself saying a handful of times to clients “but is that really your audience?” Before you draft that caption, craft a blog or select a photo, stop and think! Who is going to see it, who is going to convert and where does it need to go for that audience to see it? Let me explain through a couple of examples.
Training COURSES – pitch to the employee or the boss?
You run a training company. Do you think your primary target audience is:
a) the person likely to attend one of your courses, or
b) the employer who is challenged by their unskilled workforce?
Three years ago, I would have placed a lot more emphasis on (a) and career progression content themes, but today I would be placing my bets, and advertising spend on (b). Why? For most industries, recruitment is painful right now, so employers might be more open to investing in training for retention purposes. Now, compare that to an individual that is struggling with cost of living – spending money on training might not be top of mind for them right now. They also know its a candidates market so might even be looking elsewhere for a job that includes a training budget in their salary package.
Who is easier to convert? Employers.
Who has the influence to fill more spots in your course? Employers.
Don’t forget your students but reconsider what the subject of your next enewsletter will have the best impact? “Struggling with team performance and morale?” or “Upskill for your next career move”. The latter subject line might make your students open but some of your more lucrative leads (CEOs and Team Leaders) might hit unsubscribe.
Can dead people be a target audience?
You are a funeral director, who is your target audience:
a) the deceased, or
b) their family.
The obvious answer would be to say (b), how can you convert the dearly departed? However my answer is (a) and (b). If you work in the funeral business, you already know that a larger percentage of us are more open today, about planning our funeral and talking about death. People who are of this mindest are also more likely to be less emotional when discussing the procurement of funeral services and how they want to be interned because quite simply, they are not dead. Family members are often greiving and feel like they have a time limit, when engaging with funeral directors.
So I am not saying market to dead people, when they are dead. What I am saying is that the market for those who want to plan their funeral is fast growing so marketing to them before they die, is a good place to start. It also lessens the emotional and financial burden for their family.
Where do I find my audience? For both audiences, website search will be a common way for most to begin their research. So start with content SEO on your website that speaks to both audiences. Then build your networks to find those more likely to be planning ahead. Hint: the older you are, generally the closer you are to needing funeral services, so where do you find people that may be interested? Retirement villages, Seniors Expo, Community Clubs, etc. Go find them, don’t expect they will find you!
Final tips for writing for the right market
1. Don’t start writing – even if you wake up at 3am with a great topic idea. Stop and think who do you want to read it? Not who is going to read it.
2. Where do I find you? Then find out where these people are. Let’s take Uber as an example and they want to increase their market share of people using Uber from the airport. Don’t worry about online, go to the airport, help peole download the app, ask them what’s stopping them?
3. Now start writing – you know who they are, where they are, now write content for them and the location of where that content will be seen – socials, website, presentation, brochure, ads, media release!!
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