Defining Moment

Do you know your audiences? I mean really know them. I've just been working on a project for a client to help him position his financial planning business and to determine who his key audiences are.

Common traits and common media habits are a couple of the characteristics we uncovered. In this particular case, the audience was high net worth individuals who tend to be conservative, and who are not mainstream media lovers or consumers. When they do consume media, it tends to be conservative talk radio or FOX News. They trust opinions of friends and colleagues, not the media. So, advertising is not the way to reach them.

We will launch a referral program and try to place the client's editorial material in business-oriented media and on local talk radio in his key markets. Also, we are implementing a speaker's bureau to get him in front of civic and professional groups. So, you can see how defining the audience using demographic, geographic and psychographic elements dictates our marketing approach from a tactical perspective.

Your current customers hold the key to geographic, demographic and psychographic attributes of your key audience. Survey them to find out:

• Why did your clients buy your product?
• Why did they buy from you and not a competitor?
• What made them buy from you at a specific point in time?
• Was it an impulse decision or did they ponder it?
• What do they like the most/least about your product?
• What is the benefit of the product?
• Are they willing to refer others to your product?
• What is their age?
• Are they readers? What do they read?
• Do they watch TV; listen to the radio; read newspapers? What is their most trusted media source?

These are just a few things you'll want to learn about your audiences. If you delve into what makes them tick, it will put your marketing on steroids. And, as Martha would say, "that's a good thing."

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX and Verbatim.