If you have been marketing for any kind of business, you would inevitably come face to face with the concept of “The Law of Large Numbers”. That’s to say that the more people you can reach out to through advertising, the more likely you are to receive responses that result in a sale.
A real-life example would be the numerous amount of flyers we receive from property agents, at our homes, stuck in-between the gates of our doors, waiting to be crumpled up and discarded. And also the ever-increasing layers of “calling card stickers” that locksmiths slap above the keyholes of doors or on gates.
To many, this is somewhat of a nuisance. Comedian, Mitch Hedburg once quipped that when someone hands you a flyer, it’s like they’re saying “Here, you throw this away!” And this certainly rings true on numerous occasions.
“…one can’t discount the fact that they work when it comes to the law of large numbers.”
But as bothersome as these age-old marketing tactics get, one can’t discount the fact that they work when it comes to the law of large numbers.
Just imagine getting locked out when nobody is home at 3 am in the morning. Now that damn sticker with the contact number of a 24-hour locksmith transforms into a godsend. And now depict yourself as a homeowner who wants to sell your home, but have no clue as to how or where to even go about the process. That aptly-timed property agent’s flyer now becomes an option to give serious consideration to.
The law of Large numbers certainly works, but the principle it works on still very much relies on chance – The plausibility of the marketing message presenting itself to the right people at the right time is ultimately the factor of success. So by increasing this factor, businesses can expect better success in the form of lead generation.
“…the effectiveness of their campaign grows exponentially.”
For demonstration purposes, imagine a childcare business that operates in a city with a population of 100 thousand people, and only has a budget to send 20 thousand flyers. With enough luck, 20 thousand randomly sent flyers would garner some business. But if the childcare business is able to deliver their flyers only to parents with young children, the effectiveness of their campaign grows exponentially.
This is why targeted marketing is so far-reaching for businesses. It essentially presents your business message to the demographics fitting the right profiles. This is akin to presenting solutions to the exact demographics who you know face the problems your solution will solve; while at the same time avoiding people who will find no relevance in the first place.
This cuts back on the perceived ‘’spaminess“ of any business marketing campaigns and increases the odds of presenting goods and services to the right consumers – people who would eventually become your money-in-hand customers.
With targeted marketing, businesses can find better results with not so large numbers, to an extent which reaches far beyond the casual giving-out of flyers and mailers. Marketing messages that are deployed work harder and more efficiently simply by presenting itself in optimal circumstances.