Is Your Marketing Hitting The Right Target?

This week we challenge you to pause and look at your marketing materials. This could be your social media postings, brochures, radio ads, or any other form of marketing that you use. As you look at your marketing consider what message you are sending, but also who you are trying to reach with that message.

We find that in the financial services industry there’s a lot of effort put into understanding the market once they are in front of you for a sales meeting. You’ve probably been trained in how to mirror your clients, how to conduct a needs analysis, and maybe even personality styles. You customize your message to fit the audience. The missed opportunity in marketing is that same customized approach is seldom used.

Instead, a common mistake is to try to reach multiple target markets with a general ad content. Can it work? Yes, but it’s not nearly as effective as tailoring the ad to the target market. Think about the demographics, would you talk to a 20-year-old single individual about the same needs as you would a 40-year-old family with two younger kids at home? Or even the same as you would a 65-year-old retiree with adult children?

They might have the need for similar products. They could all buy home, auto, and life insurance from you, but would you sell it the exact same way? Chances are you wouldn’t. Chances are you’d tailor it to their needs and their situations in life. You’d use stories, examples, and even position the products slightly different to make it more relatable to where they are in their lives and to highlight what’s important to them.

Now look at your marketing content. Is it too generic? Does it speak to the right audience? We typically find that there is an opportunity for financial service industries to create smaller campaigns that are more targeted to specific markets. And in doing so, create more effective marketing.

Marketing to the masses is a bit like doing the bare minimum. Yes, you are marketing your business. And yes, you’ll get some leads from it. However, when you start to tailor your marketing to specific markets, you’ll often see a jump in leads, because it resonates with the person that you’re speaking to. It’s not the same old message. It’s speaking to their “why” and thus has an emotional connection that they’ll be more likely to act on.

Just starting to think about your marketing from this point of view can help you get started. But three quick steps include:

1. Identify a market for every marketing campaign/ad/content that you create
2. Write down how you’d approach that market in a sales meeting
3. Use that information to create your marketing material

If you’re in the Optimal Outcome program or are alumni, we encourage you to pull out Targeting Client Prospects from the Multiplying Sales skill-block. This is a great worksheet that can help you walk through this process. And don’t forget to involve your Certified Optimal Outcome Business Coach for more feedback.