Before we had targeted marketing, advertisers could not target crowds that were likely to buy from their business because there wasn’t a serviceable way to filter through databases of audiences.
In the past, the best way was to splurge on advertising to as many people as possible, and to pray for responses.
It’s rather funny that on occasion we see this phenomenon today. Once in a while, we’ll come across some advertisers who still grasp tightly to the tradition of advertising on Television and newspapers exclusively – without giving new methods a second thought.
But of course, in this day and age they will continually find themselves disappointed by the lacklustre results despite the wide reach of TV and Newspaper; not to mention a serious case of buyer’s remorse due to the sky-high advertising fees.
But how could it be? TV and Newspaper Ads worked like magic in the good old days…
No doubt that these two mediums worked brilliantly well during a time when television was the most popular media, and when newspapers were our only source of entertainment in public transport. Oh, but how times have changed…
Now, with almost every individual clutching onto a personal smartphone in their palms, along with the prevalence of big data and analytics, advertisers suddenly have the power of choosing which crowds to advertise to depending on their interests and income levels. Businesses can even zoom into specific demographics and market to residents of a certain area – going as far to target by:
- Birthday Months
- Spending Power
- E-commerce shoppers
- Shoppers who frequent selected shopping malls
Think about it, this means that virtually every single cent of your marketing budget can be allocated to creating touch-points with only the proper potential customers, rather than faceless crowds we are clueless about – similar to handing out flyers blindly.
So if we are in the business of selling men’s work shoes: potential customers will be white-collared male workers in the age range of 25 to 45, who stays near the retail outlet. As simple as that – relevance, convenience and location – checked.
This instantly gives our marketing budget a hyper-extended mileage.
Just imagine the number of sales we could generate if we could spend our whole marketing budget on reaching out ONLY to the right people at ONLY the right places.
Targeted marketing would undoubtedly lead to more sales, compared to blindly advertising to thousands upon thousands of people in hopes that some of them might be even remotely interested in what we have to offer.
IN CONCLUSION:
Before gauging the effectiveness of any marketing channel, always consider its ever-changing role in relation to current times.
Television used to be the only medium which provides moving pictures to large audiences. Now, crowds have fully moved on to the content of their own choosing within their smart devices.
So if you have got a product or service to offer to the public, start advertising to the right crowds of potential customers; not faceless numbers and email addresses. You can stretch your marketing budget with targeted marketing.
With Database Marketing, B2B businesses can make connections with business owners, and B2C businesses can reach out to hordes of potential customers.
This instantly boosts your company’s competitiveness by letting you appeal to people with interests relevant to your business.