Thursday, October 21, 2010

Narrowing Your Marketing Aim

Most marketing plans are too general. We spend hours, days, months even finding just the right niche to open up our online business, and then write copy that is so vague it could fit the Pope, or Jeffrey Dahlmer. So, what can be done about it?

Have you ever met a wildly successful man? The type that owns a yacht, and a jet, which he uses exclusively to get to his own private island, where he boards his yacht? If not, you have seen them in the movies. And, in these movies, there is always a scene where someone comments on the man's attire and it is revealed that all of his clothing is hand tailored, just for him. And we think to ourselves, “If only I had a hand tailored silk tuxedo, then I could be as smooth as that.” That's how marketing copy should be.

I know it's a big temptation to build a large tent and try not to leave anybody out, but unless you are GE, Sony, or Microsoft, odds are your target is a lot smaller than you think. After all, how big of a market can there be for “Aunt Martha's Hand Cableknit, Wool Fisherman's Sweaters?” outside of the traditional die-hard fishermen who have not yet discovered the glories of thinsulate and goretex, there are a few authors writing East Coast fishing village romances that need them for book jacket photos, and that is about it.

So, why not talk to your target market and make them feel at home? As if your words were tailored just for them? Well written, focused copy will bring them in and make them loyal customers. As for the rest of the world, they will be wishing they had a deep sea fishing boat, so they too could understand how glorious these sweaters truly are. That, or at the very least, they will buy one of that poor sap's romance novels to get the atmosphere. Text that is meaningless, is universally meaningless, text that stirs passion is easy to relate to, even if it isn't speaking directly to you.