Mistakes we see clients make: Part 1

Written by 5ivecanons Staff

As a full-service agency, we see our fair share of clients ranging from startups to fortune 100 companies. We see the good, the bad, and the ugly; companies ranging from fantastic clients to ones that don’t even pay. So, we decided to release a blog with a few trade secrets: mistakes clients make. We see it all the time, unfortunately. For every company that becomes successful and makes it off the ground, there’s ten behind it struggling to get a bit of lift. In this segment, we’re focusing on just one of those mistakes —

“Thinking Everyone is your Target Audience”.

First, let’s paint a picture of what the client sees from their perspective. (Here’s a good time to look for any red flags you or your bosses might say about your own company, so listen closely.) It sounds a little something like this… “Our product is just downright fantastic. The best thing about this product/service is that EVERYONE can use it! Kids, grandparents, adults, teenagers… why, I don’t even know who wouldn’t want an (insert product name here)! It’s just fantastic.”

Now, don’t get us wrong. Believing in yourself and your product is key, it really is. But believing anyone and everyone could, or would want to use your product and/or service, is just misguided. A healthy bit of skepticism and outside perspective is ALWAYS a good thing. A famous Russian proverb states: “If you chase two rabbits, you will catch neither.” And it is very true. Don’t waste time and, by extension money, sifting through tons of sand when you could just bring a metal detector.

We find that in advertising, there is ALWAYS a target audience. Who shops for this product? Who is going to make the purchasing decision? What are their other hobbies? How old are they? Is there one gender that buys more frequently than the other? What kinds of magazines do they read? How much money do they make? These are just a few questions we sift through to drill down to the very core of your user base.

If you or a company you know has a case of “Thinking Everyone is your Target Audience”, give us a call here at 5ivecanons. We can help you stop sifting through the sand.