“Spring is a time of renewal”
by Debra Yemenijian, March 26th, 2008
Amid my daily influx of spam and junk e-mail, this subject line stuck out to me like a nun at a Metallica concert. I recognized the sender — Toppers Spa — as a company whose messages I usually delete, even though I willfully subscribe to their e-mail blasts.
Maybe it’s because spring is officially here (according to the calendar anyway), or perhaps it’s because I’m in the middle of a busier than usual work week and subconsciously want a massage. Either way, something about “Spring is a time of renewal” made me open the e-mail and read about this week’s special spa packages.
Marketers and PR specialists need to know their audience. I can’t stress that enough. Companies aren’t going to make millions by promoting their products and services to the wrong potential buyers.
Knowing your audience is a science and an art. You can track leads and follow trends until the cows come home, and that definitely works. Some marketing extremists may even suggest trying to anger users from time-to-time just to see how passionate they really are about the industry and to see if their response offers a new approach. Regardless, marketing folks need to find a voice that speaks to the market.
But how do you do that? Ask yourself and your client the following questions:
• Who is my audience?
• What are my goals in reaching my audience?
• How will I deal with dissenting industry opinion?
• What is considered “professional” by my audience?
• What is considered “too uptight” by my audience
Answers are sometimes easily found by immersing yourself in industry blogs. Blogs are one of technology’s best modes of communication, many of them offering an open, unadulterated forum for industry banter. You never know what you can find out about your customers just by staying in touch with what they’re praising or complaining about.
So, back to my message from Toppers. Why did this appeal to me? Let’s consider women, because women are usually the more spa-going of the sexes (sorry guys!). Ask many women, and they’ll tell you that once the Easter season is over, they finally have time to relax after months of turkey, Christmas cookies, candy hearts and chocolate bunnies. In fact, for many of us “Spring is a time of renewal.” Out with the old and in with the new, starting with a little R&R for me.
Congrats, Toppers. You got my attention and my money with six little, yet very targeted, words. My aromatherapy massage is scheduled for Saturday.
Tags: B2B, B2B Marketing, behavioural marketing, business-to-business, email marketing, Public Relations, Schubert, track leads