Marketing is a complex machine – it’s not simple by any length of the word. However, it all boils down to one seemingly simple objective: to reach an audience and convince them that what you’re promoting is worth their attention and worth acting upon.
In textbook speak, we could break this down into three elements: reach, frequency and continuity. A simpler way of putting this is exposure. In order to sell a product or service to a consumer, the consumer will normally need to have multiple exposures to said product or service. They might see it advertised on television, learn about it from a friend, read about it in the paper or hear about it while waiting on hold at a business. The challenge is finding the right number of hits needed to influence the consumer’s purchase decision.
Let’s say it’s a hot day and you’re parched. Someone offers to sell you an ice cold bottle of water – that might be the only hit you need to buy. Other products may need 20 hits, 40 hits; the point is no one knows the exact number.
This is where it pays to think smarter, not harder. Smart businesses will target – or segment – their marketing to reach the people who are most likely to buy. It’s no good hitting one million people to get across to the fifty that want your product if instead you can go straight to that fifty through another means. Why waste 999,950 hits on people who aren’t interested and won’t buy?
Take Messages On Hold for example; you’re reaching a target market that is interested in your product. How do you know they’re interested? They’ve rung you! They’re sitting on hold and ready to spend.