A Costly Marketing Mistake (exposed)

A Costly Marketing Mistake (exposed)                                                                       

Got a call last week from someone I hadn’t heard from in two years who needed some copywriting and marketing help.

As soon as I heard the voice, the flashing lights started going off, red flags were popping up everywhere and I knew that whatever happened from that minute on was probably going to end up with me wasting time and feeling totally frustrated.

So what’d I do?

Stayed on the line and ended up flushing about 4 hours right down the toilet over three days!

My mistake?

I knew this person was not part of my target market. He proved it two years ago when we tried to work together and he demonstrated almost at every turn that he had virtually no knowledge of marketing, no appreciation for professional  help, didn’t understand value and was simply interested in trying to get something for nothing.

Why did I take his call this time and proceed to knowingly throw away half a day trying to help him again?

All I can think of was that I musta been in the Gerry Happy Bubble because I broke my #1 rule of marketing:

Know your target market cold and keep all your efforts focused on showing them how you can help them get what they want.

Many business owners never take time to figure out who their ideal client or customer is. Others know but don’t leverage the power of that understanding in their web copy and other marketing messages.

They end up creating impersonal ‘stop me when you see something you like’ websites and emails instead of crafting laser like sales messages that zero in on exactly what their target prospect is looking for.

So, how can you figure out who your target market is?

Simply think about the customers and clients you worked with where you had fun, earned a profit, enjoyed the experience, developed relationships and looked forward to your next encounter. In short, both sides benefitted.

That, is your ideal client.

Here are a few characteristics of my target market:

• Most are between 35 – 45 years old.
• Close to 75% are female.
• Almost all either own/run a business or hold senior marketing positions at small or medium sized companies.
• Many have a basic or advanced understanding of marketing.
• Most are extremely busy and value their time. They know what they are good at and understand that investing in copywriting and marketing help can get them where they need to go faster.
• They are very trusting and committed to growing their businesses.

With this understanding , I am able to match my marketing with what my target prospect is looking for.  

If you haven’t taken time to reflect on your target market, give it a try. It will help you create marketing that goes right to the fundamental reason we do what we do - help people get what they want.