My son, who is 9, is involved a school programme called PrEP – Primary Enterprise Programme – an in-school programme designed to teach year 4 to year 6 children about business.
He has been appointed ‘Deputy Advertising Manager’. I decided to be smart and instill my wisdom upon him. So I started to say… “now these days advertising is an ‘old’ term and when marketing your products and services you need to be thinking about the internet and social media” (I said with the tone of enthusiasm and hype!). He smiled at me and said, “Mum, you are just saying that because you are the Soc-al Media Manager but we are just selling to the school kids – the internet is no use to us!”. Slightly taken aback, I then realised: wow he has grasped the number 1 rule of marketing! – Know Your Audience! Smart boy!
Many people truly get caught up in the hype, or conversely, think only of how they would like to be communicated with, instead of considering their target audience.
This is never more true than with marketing your products and services in today’s world. No longer are we just focused on what television programme or magazine does our target market tune into – we are now surrounded by more and more communication options and some of them are so affordable that it is a marketers dream. Inbound marketing using blogs, social media, direct marketing and SEO, is now proven to generate more leads at a lower cost than traditional outbound advertising.
It is tempting to set up a profile on Twitter or Facebook or flick out emails to your database and start broadcasting our advertisements to this audience. Some industries (eg. beauty industry, real estate) are so entrenched in this form of communication – one-way – that they continue to market this way in the social networks, forgetting that Social Media Marketing means being social and engaging with people. Relationships first, Selling second.
Being in love with what you do can sometimes be a handicap and some people feel that they are being dragged into a dream that is not their own. Some follow theories without understanding the reality of business and life.
Don’t get caught in the hype – stay focused on what is Real and Relevant. Here are some key points to remember:
- Who is my audience? Customers, potential customers, colleagues, staff, stakeholders, business alliances, media etc
- Where do they look for information? Consider their demographics, trends, put yourself in their shoes.
- What do they want to hear about?
- How can I help them? Consider problems they come across and how you could offer a solution
- How can I share that information?
If you get this part right, you are well on your way to a successful integrated marketing and communications plan.
So, as my child goes to sleep with big plans of his own company made up of CEO, Sales Manager, Product Manager, Advertising Manager, HR Manager, etc, and is in complete wonder that a CEO may earn $80 an hour and staff $20 an hour (that’s a lot for a child who earns $5 a week), I am proud that he pronounced “Wow that’s a lot of money, but we have to sell some products first!”
Written by Kerry Ensor, Director of SocialMediaMgr
