Being “audience-focused” has become such a cliché that when you hear a marketer utter it for the umpteenth time, your eyes almost begin to roll toward the back of your head. “Yeah, yeah, focus on the audience, I get it,” you say, exasperated.

But what does it really mean? I think a lot of small businesses (and even some larger ones) don’t really understand how to do audience-focused marketing, even though they know that it’s important.

4 Elements of Audience-Focused Marketing

At Marketing Nice Guys, we have our own definition. And there are four elements that are core to the way we look at it. Here they are: 

1. Your Marketing Reflects Audiences’ Core Challenges and Pain Points (Even Those That They May Not Be Conscious Of)

We often say that companies first and foremost need to establish clearly the audiences they’re talking to and make sure those potential customers “see themselves” in what those businesses are putting out. One way to do that is to make sure you understand and highlight their challenges or pain points. For example, we often refer to the classic Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, perhaps one of the best marketing campaigns done in the last 20 or so years.

What was it about it that was so good?

About 10 years ago, the company created a series of viral videos on the topic of “You’re More Beautiful Than You Think.” Aimed at women, it was developed off of research Dove conducted with its customers that showed that women often perceived themselves in a harsher light than others actually did. The women who saw the commercial reacted emotionally to the ad, sharing it with others, and ultimately driving a huge boost in sales for the brand.

2. Your Marketing Reflects Where Your Audiences Are in the Buyer Journey

How many times do you receive an email, or see an ad that says: “Buy Now,” “Join Today,” “Get This Deal,” or “Call Us to Talk Our Agents” but you’re a.) Not actually in the market for those services; or b.) You know nothing about the company.

It’s the equivalent of asking someone at a bar (who you just met) to go back to your place. The likelihood of you closing the deal is very small and you’ve probably just managed to go down as a negative memory in someone’s book.

Yet, so many companies still attempt this tactic as if it’s their only option. This shows a complete lack of audience focus. There’s a reason the marketing funnel has been around for roughly 100 years – because it works. There are a few core stages of the funnel that your marketing should reflect:

• • Top-of-Funnel: Awareness. Your marketing at this stage is meant to introduce people to your business/products and services. It’s here where you establish that you understand their issues and challenges (part I above) or identify your shared values so they get to know you.
  • Mid-Funnel: Engagement and Acquisition. Your marketing at this stage should reflect that audiences probably are aware of you and that now you want them to engage deeper into content or get on your email list to learn more.
  • Lower-Funnel: Decision and Conversion/Purchase. After they’ve become familiar with you, some may buy from you, especially those that now may be in-market. How do you identify those individuals? And make sure that you put the right offers, reminders, or convincing testimonials in front of them that push them to take the plunge.
  • Post-Purchase: Support, Loyalty, and Advocacy. The key here is that these are now your customers. They should, in the ideal world, qualify for special, more personalized treatment. Does your marketing reflect that? Also, understanding they’ve already purchased, does your marketing reflect those core next steps such as the potential for needing repeat purchases at the right time (loyalty), helping them answer product or service questions (customer support), or providing them the tools and platforms to spread the word about you (advocacy/reviews and testimonials).

3. Your Marketing Reflects What Drives Audiences Emotionally

So, here’s a question: Do you understand what triggers your audience to a.) Take notice of you? Or, b.) Move down the marketing funnel toward a purchase? What are those tactics you use that you know the audience will respond to? Typically, marketing tactics are designed to move audiences from one stage of the funnel to the next. That’s not an easy thing to do in many cases, as it involves, if you think about it, behavior change. One of the ways good marketers “change behavior” is to understand and use emotions that drive audiences closer to your product or service.

What does that mean?

For example, do you know:

• • What makes your audiences happy?
  • What makes them sad or angry?
  • What do they fear? What gives them anxiety?
  • What drives their ambition?

The above is what we like to call the 4 core emotional areas of marketing. Being able to spark one of those areas, can create incentive to use your product or service to make their lives better.

4. Your Marketing Engages Them, Makes Them Smarter or More Informed

For those of you who follow us, you know that we at Marketing Nice Guys love this concept of “social currency,” one of the six content approaches you can take when doing marketing for an audience. Social currency, as a definition, is that which audiences learn from you that they pass along to others to make themselves seem smarter, more interesting, funnier, etc. Social currency could be as simple as a joke or it might be something that they didn’t know but you being an expert in a particular area do. It’s one of the most effective ways that you can demonstrate your authority to them. But it’s hard sometimes to do well unless you know your audience well.

Sometimes – and we see this a lot in the consulting space – a coach or trainer might state something they think is interesting or insightful and use it in his or her marketing but their audience already knows it (or is already familiar with the concept). This happens a lot with coaches and trainers who try to reach CEOs, for example, a generally pretty sophisticated audience. That’s why it’s critical, again, to know your audience and come up with something that is really original, as the audience has been around the block or two.

Conclusion

One last thing to make note of. It is very true that marketing in any company might be perfectly audience-focused in its approach, but the marketing can still fall flat. Why? Because marketing is only one piece of the larger puzzle. After all, if product, marketing, and sales (if applicable) aren’t also aligned with the customer in the same way, there will be a big disconnect at some point. We hope that’s not the case for your company. 😊 If you need additional help, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation. Our mission, after all, is to help you excel in marketing.