This month, let’s learn about Targeted Advertising;
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
– Peter F. Drucker
Targeted advertising is on average almost twice as effective as non-targeted ads. Why is that? This month we will delve into the world of Targeted Marketing. What is it and how to use it to gain loyal customers.
Oh, and for the record, I am not talking about those pesky targeted ads that pop up on your mobile and web browser after you have a conversation over the weekend with your friend about going on a holiday. This month’s newsletter is about taking the target audience profiles you created back in November and using them to get in front of an audience that wants or needs your product.
If you haven’t yet completed your target audience profiles, flick back to our November newsletter for more information or reach out to us about our target audience workshops.
Ready? Let’s dive right in!
Warmly, Alysha
Owner, Wow Studios
EXCITING NEWS
SYDNEY MARDI GRAS IS RAMPING UP AND WOW STUDIOS IS BACK ON BOARD WITH THE OZ QUEER HAGS!
Following on the success of last year’s World Pride, held right here in Sydney. The 2024 Sydney Mardi Gras is set to be another spectacular celebration of the LGBTQI+ community, love and inclusitivity and Wow Studios is once again proud to be lending our design and events experience to The Oz Queer Hags float.
Kicking things off with in style with a Cyborg theme titled ‘Lovebot Frenzy’, Wow Studios has been involved in concept development, organising LED workshops and craft sessions and designing promotions for their upcoming fundraising raffle.
If you would like to support this wonderful community float you can purchase your raffle tickets here.
LET’S TALK BRANDING
Most advertising, good and bad, happens when people are going about their daily business. It pops up when you surf the web, catches your eye on a billboard as you walk down the street and appears as you absentmindedly flip through the pages of a magazine while you wait for your coffee. It’s everywhere!
So how do you ensure your spending your precious marketing dollars reaching out to the right people? Through the power of targeted marketing. Sounds complicated but really its quite simple. There is a bit of groundwork involved before you can take advantage of this super useful marketing strategy and some creative thinking, but trust us, it can be a great tool, especially for small business.
Targeted marketing starts with understanding who your customer is, why they want or need your product or service and knowing where to find them.
Once you have that information, you’re ready to start creating focused marketing campaigns that target your identified customers and markets.
What will targeted marketing do for my business? Is it really worth my time and energy?
Absolutely yes!
In today’s society with consumers bombarded left and right with advertising and promotions and more products and services than ever before made much more easily accessible to the average consumer, there has never been a greater need to find a way to cut through the noise and reach your target customers at a time and place where they are ready to receive your message.
It’s Cost-Effective
When your able to target your advertising and promotions to a narrow field, the amount you need to spend to reach them reduces. Every dollar counts, especially for small businesses, so getting maximum return on investment for minimum spend doesn’t just make sense, it’s vital.
Speak their Language
When you’re only talking to a small segment of the market you can personalise your message. Use a tone of voice and language that they understand and relate to, choose images and colours that will catch their eye and appeal to their interests, and target your campaigns to locations or mediums that your customers frequently use. Check out this article from Attest. Skip over the first two and go straight to Coca-Cola, Huggies and Louis Vuitton to see targeted marketing at its best!
Higher Engagement
Sure, a catchy marketing campaign will attract attention, but is it the right attention? It’s no longer good enough to just to put out something generic with a snappy tune and some cool graphics. Consumers demand more these days. If you want them to stick around and become loyal followers of your brand, you need to give them something they want to engage with. Perhaps its your sense of humour they love, or you might be known for your beautiful artistic images or the environmental cause you support. Find something that appeals to your customers fundamental core values and make a genuine, long-lasting connection.
You need to think outside the box. Sure, you can use Google Ads, lock in some parameters and create an ad that appeals just to young first-time mums or target aspiring musicians stuck at Uni doing degrees they don’t want to do, but is that all it takes?
Unfortunately, no, you will need to put in quite a bit more thought and effort, but, remember, you have already done the hard work in creating your target audience profiles. Now it’s just a case of taking what you have learnt and coming up with a campaign that will resonate with those people.
How will you reach your audience?
What can you do to get their attention and get them engaging with your campaign?
What is going to draw your customer in and make them want to purchase or use your product or service. Think back to your target audience profiles, what needs or wants does your product or service fulfil? What matters to your customer and how can you use that to create a lasting relationship with them?
Here are a few examples from big companies with clever marketing teams! But don’t be put off, you too can do this on a smaller scale. It’s not about the budget, it’s about the message and how they appeal to their customer.
Can you make the process easier like Shopify did when they focussed their marketing on making it easy for entrepreneurs to get started, or draw them in with some research and consolidated findings like the Marigold report I shared last month. Can you help them stay on top of their finances like ClearScore’s current television advertising campaign or can your brand help their customers share their own stories of tragedy and triumph like Nike did.
And remember, even today, social media is still just one avenue you can take, and it’s a very oversaturated market. Get creative. From big ticket items like billboards and television advertising to radio, good old fashioned letterbox drops there are still so many ways to get your message out.
The internet is a powerful tool but more and more people are looking for other, less saturated ways to engage.
Think about co-marketing with other complementary brands, sponsorship and charity associations, or maybe even advertising in your local shopping centre. Why not start a blog, a podcast or collaborate with influences. Join a networking group in your local area or apply for a local business award. Create a brand ambassador program where your customers share their stories of their affiliation with your brand, create interactive content, share behind the scenes of your process, staff, etc. and let your customers get to know you and your business. Engage with your local community or the community your product services and make yourself a thought leader, a must have item or simply just a well-known brand. Focus on building customer reviews and share them everywhere.
No idea is a bad idea so do some brainstorming and then select the top ideas that most relate back to your target audience profiles. And try to use a few. A great campaign should run across a number of platforms, not just one and not just once!
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
PLEASE WELCOME KYLE FROM McGRATH PEST CONTROL
This month, I sat down for a chat with Kyle from McGrath Pest Control. We recently did a rebrand for this family owned business and the result is a quirky, memorable visual identity that brings to life Kyle’s personality and highlights the business as friendly yet professional.
Tell us a bit about your business?
McGrath Pest Control and Maintenance is a family owned and operated business, creating a safe, Pest free home.
Why did you set up your business?
I started the business as I wanted to be able to work when I wanted to and how ever long I wanted to and generate enough of my own money to look after my family.
What makes your business different?
The knowledge and passion I have around the insect world gives me the edge over competitors to ensure I stand out from the crowd.
What’s the best advice you recieved when you were starting out?
The best advise I received when starting out the business was to know my worth as not only a worker within the business but also a business owner.
What brought you to Wow?
Wow Studios stood out to me as Alysha was welcoming and friendly and easy to communicate with.
What is the collaboration process like?
The whole process of setting up and creating the rebranding of Mcgrath Pest Control and Maintenance was effortless as Alysha was prompt and always kept me in the loop with ideas and her creativeness is amazing.
Any last words?
Get us in, we’ll get em out
FEEL INSPIRED
The best way to come up with creative, out of the box ideas is to let yourself be inspired. Learn from other marketing experts, take the clever concepts and think about how you can incorporate a simplified version into your own marketing campaigns.
Earlier I gave you a few examples from some of the big guys. The internet is full of them but whilst doing my research I came across this fantastic article by CoSchedule. They have done all the hard work for us and compiled a bunch of awesome real-world examples all in one place. So sit back, relax and take it all in!
CREATE THE UNEXPECTED, DELIVER HAPPINESS!
WOW STUDIOS – WE BRING YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS TO LIFE
