A successful marketer knows how to read people. I think about
this every day, as I’m creating strategies, programs and content for my
clients, and always can hear Kenny Loggins singing in my head. “I’ve made a
living out of reading people’s faces…” We used to have to put together
elaborate buyer personas, and market to people who fit into those molds.
However, with the rise of social media, and the increasing number of people
from all demographics using various social media platforms, we can now create
content and programming based on real people.
Prior to social media, marketing tactics were more
widespread. We could put together a great promotion and send it out to a wide
variety of stores, or place an ad in a newspaper where hundreds of people would
see it, or even put up a billboard. That was how we used to reach people. We
would throw messages out en masse, in hopes that it would reach both our
current customers and potential new customers.
That doesn’t work anymore. Today, we realize that we need to
personalize content, to “each” person, and market to that “one” person.
Consumers today are not just smarter to the ways of marketing, but they are
suffering from marketing messaging and ad fatigue. Even if a great ad comes
across them, they might tune it out without even meaning to – there are simply
too many messages being thrown out there on too many mediums today.
So, how does someone break through that? If people are tuning
out ads without even knowing they’re doing it, how can we ensure our messaging
won’t get tuned out? It is a lot easier than many marketing folks realize, and
while it takes more work to market with personalization, it will help ensure
the messages are landing where they need to be.
1.
Know Who
You Are Talking To
This goes a bit deeper than simply saying “know your
target audience.” You need to get more specific in your head with who IN your
target audience you are speaking to. My target audience for a brand I work with
might be men and women, ages 18-40 who live in Southern California. Sounds
pretty specific, right? Yet it’s not specific enough. I need to delve deeper
and start listening to what segmented groups of that audience are saying about
my brand, what their buying habits are, and how I can reach them before they
even realize my brand can enhance their life.
2.
Relate Your
Messaging to “Me”
We are all consumers at some point in our day, of a
variety of different products. What makes you choose one brand over another?
For me, I will choose a brand that makes the most sense for my life. As a
marketer, I need to reach “me” and show you how my brand can seamlessly fit
into your life, and how much easier or better your life will then be, due to
using, eating or drinking my brand. What questions are being asked by the
people you are trying to reach, and how can your product or service answer
those questions? Those answers need to be provided in your content and
messaging.
3.
Where Can I
Find My Audience, and in What Format?
Not only does the content I send to you need to be
relevant on topic, but it also needs to land in the right spot for “each”
person. I am pretty vocal about my love for Twitter. Some people don’t use
Twitter and prefer to use Facebook. If the person I’m trying to reach prefers
to receive their messaging on one platform, my personal preferences don’t
matter – YOURS do. How “you” want to receive content needs to be a marketer’s
main focus.
Emails have employed this idea since inception– how many
times have you signed up for an email subscription and been asked if you prefer
messages in HTML or plain text? That is an example of personalization. Today,
people consume content in more ways than simply plain text – does your target
audience prefer infographics? Blogs? Do they attend Twitter chats for the
information they seek?
4.
Don’t Be
Creepy
Personalization, when done right, is smooth. You don’t
want to personalize too far down, to the point that people feel like their
space or privacy is being invaded. You can personalize content and strategies
without it seeming like you have been listening in on people’s private conversations.
Social listening does not mean stalking!
Undoubtedly, personalized content marketing takes much
longer than any marketing of the past. However, what happens to the very best
content ever produced in the history of man when it’s not seen? Did it really
exist? If you are taking the time and psending the money to put out marketing
messaging, it only follows that you want those efforts to pay off.
There is more data to be found and more ways to have
real conversations with your target consumer than ever. Understand who those
people are, so you can develop relevant content for them that is then delivered
at the right time, in the right format and where they are best able to benefit
from it.
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