There is a misconception about product marketing (and, indeed, most forms of marketing) that in order to be successful – or effective – it must have vast reach. Enormous numbers of people must see/hear/be in some way aware of the campaign otherwise it is seen as a failure…but, frankly, this is completely wrong.
In fact, we’d go so far as to say that this perception of campaign success is generally rooted in the stone age. Not particularly complimentary we know, but it gets our message across.
In the modern world of marketing it is only a very simple campaign with a very simple aim that will aim for maximum reach and nothing else. And believe us, this is a rare event.
You see, business success is about targeted communication – or, to put it another, more familiar way, it’s not quantity but quality that counts.
Many products fail simply because their advertising brief is of the “sell it to everyone” variety and makes no distinctions whatsoever. Clearly this is idiocy.
For any product to be successful a marketing campaign plan is absolutely vital (and you’d be surprised how many people ignore this fact).
Before any campaign gets under way a significant amount of market research should have been performed to identify the target audience.
When this target market has been identified the job is only just beginning as further research should be employed to determine the intended consumer’s average disposable income, hours of work, social activity, spending habits and…well…anything that may in any way be relevant to the purchase or positioning of your product.
Building up a detailed picture of your intended consumer is as vital as making sure your product is produced correctly. With this picture you can decide exactly how to aim your campaign to appeal to the consumer and, further, how to place the campaign so that the consumer will feel compelled to buy your product.
There is, of course, more to it than this – learning when your consumer is most open to sales for instance (this is where a detailed knowledge of working life and social habits amongst your target market is of great use) or learning what approach is most likely to get their attention (again, learning about their habits – from book reading to hobbies to musical tastes, can be vital here)…or any one of a great number of potentially important variables that can and drive your product sales.
Of course, this approach will – initially at least – be more expensive than a simple “fire and forget” campaign (we stole the term from a certain type of missile if you were wondering – but it fits) both in terms of hours spent pre-launch and in financial outlay. However, in the long run it will reap great rewards.
Can you really afford not to do your homework?