How to Target and Launch a Marketing Campaign

I hear from quite a few business owners asking what’s the first thing they should do. It’s difficult for them to figure out exactly how to launch a advertising or promotional campaign, consequently they never get started. They are paralyzed into inactivity. The torpedo gives us a good lesson of just how to jump into the marketing waters.

Every torpedo has three necessary components: A guidance system, a method of propulsion and an explosive device. Here’s how they apply to your marketing.

Guidance System
This is the who and the where. Start easy. Identify who is the best prospect for your message. Visualize a typical customer for your business; a real person who is representative of your customer base. Now make note of all their demographic and lifestyle attributes. For example: their age, sex, income, education level, lifestyle, and personality.

Choosing the where means choosing the most cost effective medium by which to reach your typical customer with impact. This may be through traditional advertising, guerilla marketing and promotional efforts, or through online marketing. You have to find where your customers hang out. If you are using traditional forms of advertising, our Media Spotter Matrix will help you chose the correct medium.

Propulsion
Your media schedule, your promotional placement, or guerilla marketing tactic is the fuel that drives your campaign. To your target with greater velocity and momentum, use frequency and concentration.

Frequency is the number of different times one individual comes in contact with your message. For your message to make an impact in our over-marketed world, your target must consume your message multiple times. Don’t use a medium you cannot use frequently. I’ve written before on the importance of frequency, and even included it in my Brain Rules for Marketing. But frequency is not easy to achieve without concentration.

There is a natural tendency in advertising to “spray and pray.” This is the practice of spraying your message in too many places, and then hoping that it works. You do a little here, you do a little there and a little more over there. The intent is to reach as many people as possible, but the result is that your message gets lost in the crowd. The solution is concentration.

Don’t spread yourself thinner than your budget. Don’t use too many media. Don’t advertise in too many places, too many day-parts or too many sections. Make sure you are able to concentrate your message enough to achieve frequency. That may mean advertising on only one cable channel, or promoting yourself in only one neighborhood, or getting involved with only one cause.

Explosive Device
When a torpedo explodes, it doesn’t actually blow a whole in it’s target underwater. The explosion occurs directly adjacent to its target leaving a void in the water. The water pressure surrounding the target forces the target into the void, thereby buckling the target.

The explosive device in your marketing campaign is your message. There are two types of messages used in marketing campaigns. The ineffective variety try to explode on the target and cause direct damage. These are the types of messages filled with marketing B.S.

An effective marketing message is one that leaves a void into which the customer must buckle. These are the messages that create demand through curiosity rather than trying to force it with hype. Your message should give insight into your business and tell an intriguing story that speaks to the customer’s need. The surrounding meaningless marketing from other businesses will provide the pressure, buckling customers into your void.

Don’t be paralyzed into delaying your marketing campaign. The important thing is to just get started. And now that you know about the torpedo, you can do just that. Torpedo Away!

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