In business as in life, advice often leans on the fact that you can’t please everyone all of the time, and that trying to do so could prove detrimental. Taken literally, this advice is true – the ability to recognise a target market and stick with it is # 1 in the 101 of marketing success.
But, as the need to connect with consumers on a much deeper level sweeps across the business front thanks to social media, many companies are finding that this ‘target market default’ simply isn’t enough to ensure competitive advantage. After all, even within a select group, the consumer rainbow consists of many different colours.
This is a consideration that, thus far, countless marketing drives have failed to take into account, meaning that the alienation of audiences, and the lost conversions that can cause, have too often stood in the way of progress. Now, though, as increasing big data makes it far easier to understand what people want on a granular level, diversification of even targeted marketing is essential, and we’ve got a few pointers that could help your team bring it within much easier reach.
Step 1: Diversify your employment
Workplace diversity is essential for building accepting work environments and even increasing employee retention. Evidence is also emerging to suggest that, the more diverse your workplace, the better able you’ll be to understand, and cater for, the full scope of your target audience. Employers looking to continue competing should therefore consider a broad cultural office landscape, whether that means looking into global operations or hiring foreign workers in-office by getting to grips with sponsor licence fees and regulations. In either case, boardroom meetings and marketing brainstorms are guaranteed to get a whole lot more exciting and innovative with this expanded business reach.
Step 2: Listen to what your audience is telling you
These days, keyboard warriors and less intentional data trends reveal a great deal about where you’re meeting audience expectations, and where you’re falling short. Paying attention to data trends that show who’s clicking on your ads and who isn’t can especially help to inform more universal improvements. With the insights derived off the back of this information, you should be better poised to target ads that work far better for conversions across even the broad scope of a target market.
Step 3: Put your fingers in all the pies
Keeping your fingers in as many marketing pies as possible is also essential for avoiding stereotypes that keep sales at bay. For example, while a company looking to appeal to a millennial audience could undeniably benefit from social media campaigns, it’s also essential to acknowledge that an average 35% of millennials actively avoid social platforms. This isn’t to say that you need to juggle a budget that has to stretch to every marketing option, but acknowledging this fact and repurposing your content across a few different outlets such as blogs, magazines, etc. makes it far more likely that you’ll tick all of the boxes for an audience that bites on a much wider, more lucrative scale.
