[UPDATE: September 08, 2020: I was reading through some old blog posts from a website I may or may not retire, ContractorWebsitesPlus.com, and found this gem I wrote about 18 months ago.
This particular blog stood out because I am going through some introspection on how I am presenting Digital Marketing in 60 Seconds or Less and who I am trying to attract (it’s amazing how things just seem to work out) and the subject matter here was a great reminder to take a step back and start from the beginning. I hope it helps you as well.]
How The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and CNBC’s The Profit are a Lesson in Knowing Your Audience
I’m watching one of my favorite shows, The Profit. Marcus is trying to help two guys who had a line of fishing apparel. One of them is also a radio DJ and Marcus found the man offensive. In truth, I do as well but I think Marcus is being a bit harsh as he sometimes is.
Marcus ended up walking away from the deal (I doubt they survived) and they continued the show with him visiting one of his past success stories. By the way, a great representation of working with people you like as I discussed in an earlier blog.
Anyway, what the heck do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have to do with The Profit? Good question.
As I was blissfully getting lost and trying to turn the day off in my brain while watching the show I didn’t even notice the commercials. It’s amazing how you can switch things off so easily while decompressing. One commercial however caught my attention.
They played a Nickelodeon commercial for the newest installment of the TMNT series.
Why did this catch my attention?
I was watching on-demand (by the way, one of the best human inventions since sliced bread) and this meant that a media buyer out there somewhere thought a commercial for Nickelodeon’s new TMNT would resonate with the ADULT audience watching an entrepreneurial centric show.
Now, I’m no Einstein, but I’m pretty sure the audience for both of these shows are on opposite sides of any spectrum. I know there is the occasional crossover, an audience member of The Profit, me included, that may watch an episode or two of TMNT, but that is purely for nostalgic reasons and, I would venture to say, rare.
After all, I don’t plan my viewing schedule around TMNT anymore.
To my point.
If you don’t know your audience and you don’t know where to find them, you’re wasting your time and your money.
Knowing your audience is the basic component of any marketing plan, campaign or website. If you don’t know who your audience is, how can you know what problems they are trying to solve and how to create website content that resonates with them?
I can tell you from experience, this is a huge problem in the home improvement market. There is money being wasted hand over fist on a daily basis. The shame of it is, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Do you know your audience?
Do you know who your ideal customer is?
If your answer to both of these questions is something like “I’ll sell to anyone with a heartbeat, a home and a checkbook” you are like 75% of the home improvement contractors out there. And, like them, you’re wasting money too.
Figuring out who your audience or your Ideal Avatar is, isn’t hard. All it takes is some understanding of your market, a little bit of insight into your past clients and a little bit of introspection.
Stop running with the herd. Stop wasting your hard earned cash. Be in the 25% of home improvement contractors who get a pretty good return from their marketing.
Well, I have to get back to watching my show. In the meantime, do some thinking about your ideal avatar. Maybe you can start swinging a focused and targeted nunchaku at your market instead of a shotgun filled with pellets and get yourself some COWABUNGA’s.
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