Crying towel time. Target market solicitations are pushing me away. – SCN Encourager

As if our past weekend in sports wasn’t deflating enough!

I was also skipped over entirely by several businesses that were reaching out for new customers.

They made it clear that they didn’t want me.

Marketing mastermind Seth Godin predicted this would happen and I even wrote about it in the Encourager last week.

Godin said that marketing campaigns are becoming more and more “selective” and are rapidly turning our traditional universal target market into something more along the order of a diverse market with more clearly segmented “pockets of someone.”

As public school leaders and communicators, the ramifications of this cannot be ignored.

While we work hard to inform, engage, and rally our community – Godin would say that we can only do this effectively by actually connecting with each one of the “pockets of someone” that comprise it.

Almost one by one by one…

This is not good news, of course.

At least Noah could carry out his tactical plan two by two by two…

But there is value in having a defined starting point; we can strengthen our communication effectiveness right away by better identifying the many “pockets of someone” all around us.

Others are already on this.

Listen closely to many of the TV or radio ads that enter your “ear space” this week.

You’ll hear many businesses start slicing and dicing their way to their ideal target audience by tossing out tightly worded questions that leave very little wiggle room.

And I sure wish I wouldn’t take their questions so personally.

From a popular sports bar – “Do your fantasy teams win week-after-week? Do you always win big in the contests you enter?”  (Me: nope!)

From a respected financial planner – “Is your stock fund worth more than $500,000? Are you losing sleep worrying about how it’s underperforming in today’s economy?”  (Me: don’t I wish!)

From a local tailor’s shop – “Do you have to squeeze into your clothes every morning? Wouldn’t you like to be able to wear your favorite slacks and still be able to sit down comfortably?”  (Me: yep!)

Using a qualifying question or two prior to your eventual presentation and call-to-action is a good way to increase the efficiency of your marketing plan.

I get it.

I just hope you don’t have the battles with this tactic that I do.

I’d hate for both of us to have to resort to lying in our answers just to keep our spirits up.

————————————————————-