If You Market To Everyone, No One Will Respond
I know this is a sweeping statement, so put yourself in the shoes of a consumer. If the message is not clearly speaking to them, they don’t hear the message. If you want to speak to them, then know them!
Many businesses consider knowing their customer means knowing the following:
- Average age:
- Gender
- Marital Status
- Ethnicity
- Religion
- Socio-economic status
- Job title
- Level of education
Summed up these are demographics.
Many of us in business have grown up with demographics. This was how we marketed, the problem is these days “demos” just don’t tell us enough.
For example: 4 women who are demographically the same all have different needs based on one major variable in the life: kids! This means, they are the same demo and then what they are seeking from a gym, a personal trainer, a group fitness class, group training or even an internal 8 week challenge will vary based on having:
- No kids
- Kids at a pre-school age
- Kids school age
- Kids self sufficient age
And then potentially kids who have left school.
Your job is to really understand the needs and wants of your customer at a much deeper level. You need to fully describe them. When you know this information you can shape the product, the message and the advertising avenues accordingly.
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.