Defining a Target

What Michael Keaton Can Teach You About Marketing

- Mark Harari

“Calling all cars, calling all cars. Be on the lookout for a 45-year-old white male, 5' 9 tall, approximately 165 pounds. He has brown hair, blue eyes and is married with two children. He's a middle-class guy making about $100,000 per year and lives in Pasadena. If found, offer him a free download and get him into our marketing funnel.

Have you clearly defined your target customer? Can you put out a specific and unambiguous APB (all-points bulletin) to anyone you expect to market your business?

Unfortunately, most businesses I encounter have an APB that goes something like this: “Calling all cars, be on the lookout for everyone in Pasadena who needs [service you offer].”

That is simply not going to cut it. Why? There are two big reasons. The first reason is: You cannot afford to have everyone be your target. Marketing budgets don't enjoy economies of scale. If you're trying to reach every man, woman, and child — of all generations and creeds — simply because they are candidates for your product or service, then all you've done is split your one big budget into a whole bunch of tiny budgets.

So, while you're spending a fraction of your marketing dollars on each segment, your competitors can commit 100% of their budget to the same segment. This puts you at a significant disadvantage.

The second reason is even more critical to your business: You can't crafta compelling message to everyone. If, for example, the company above was a remodeler in Pasadena, then consider a young couple with a toddler looking to remodel their kitchen. Now, contrast that with a single woman. She's a C-Suite executive in her forties making $400k per year, and she, too, is looking to remodel her kitchen. What could you possibly say that would resonate with both? Nothing.