The Importance of Knowing Your Audience

I recently attended a presentation by a “Digital Marketing Expert.” Yes, I was scoping out the competition. However, it seems I have nothing to worry about; and not because of his lack of knowledge or expertise, but because of, ironically, his own marketing tactics.

This particular event was hosted by a local chamber of commerce and was a 25 minute presentation from this gentleman on social media advertising, mobile marketing and websites. If I could sum up the theme, I would call it “Ways to Make Your Business Stay Trendy and Hip to Younger Audiences.” The attendees, minus myself and a few select individuals, were older business owners who may not have the most up-to-date website or know a ton about social media (hence why they came to the event).

The presentation was a well-thought-out PowerPoint and he made some really good points. Afterwards, I approached him to compliment his notes and ask if we can stay connected...then I asked for his business card. His response? “Oh I don’t carry business cards, they’re outdated.”

I understand what his method is. His company is in digital advertising, a newer medium and therefore is on the cutting edge, and business cards are a thing of the past. That may be true, but as I looked around to others asking him the same question, there was plenty of confusion across the many faces. This guy had just spent 25 minutes telling everyone his company could solve their social media problems and yet did not have a simple way for potential customers to reach out to him. Sure, people could connect with him on Linkedin or “like” his company’s Facebook page, but that’s not the audience that was in attendance, and those people would still need a name to search for. Many of these business owners were old fashioned (I talked with several of them). They like business cards. They like a simple email or phone number to reach out to and don’t want to mess with messaging on social media or finding the contact page of a website.

The point is, don’t give a presentation to small business owners who don’t know about social media and tell them you can handle their social media and then make the only way to contact you through said social media, which they would need you to show them how, but they can’t, because they can’t contact you...

Know Your Audience.