One of the worst things you could do in any type of marketing is targeting the wrong audience. But, most business owners do not realize the fact that they are targeting the wrong crowd. This can happen because of several possible reasons. But, what is really important at the end of the day is to realize that you are making a mistake.
Regardless of what you optimize your site for, low volume keywords or high volume keywords, or the type of promotion you are interested in, like Facebook marketing or email marketing, when you see things like the ones highlighted below, you have to reassess your target audience.
You Believe Anyone Can Become A Customer
There is no clearer warning sign than this one. While there is nothing wrong with being inclusive, it creates a horrible marketing strategy. You need to have defined customer segments so that your content can be created for people who would actually buy from you. When you create something that is too broad, you will not be able to capture the attention of the buying consumers. Only online stores as strong as Amazon can target all people. But, this took over 25 years to accomplish.
Your Email Lists Do Not Open The Emails You Send
Look at newsletter email open rates. When they are too low or you see people opening without taking further actions, it might very well be because your audience was chosen incorrectly as you built the email list. If your mails worked in the past and they do not work anymore, it is because the message you send no longer connects. You can change the messaging or you might need to build a new email list.
You Do Not Sell Your Products Or Services
When people look at your products or services but they do not buy them, it can mean several things. However, if you know what you sell has value and your messaging is good, it usually means you are targeting the wrong audience. Basically, you would need to communicate with others if you want sales.
Your Segments Were Chosen Without Concrete Data
Creating segments is a great way to increase sales in any type of marketing but when your segments were created without accurate data, and plenty of it, you can be sure your campaigns will fail.
Let’s say you are creating a campaign that is aimed at women or men. When this is information you did not collect as you created an email list, it is close to impossible to correctly target anyone. It is possible to guess for some of the names you gathered but with gender-neutral names, this is impossible.
When you create a lead-generation form, make sure to collect relevant data, what you will need to perfectly segment contacts.
Your Unsubscribe Rate Is High
With every single marketing campaign, you have to expect some people will unsubscribe. But, if the rate is too high, it means something is wrong. It could be a bad target audience. The problem is most business owners do not realize what a high unsubscribe rate is. As a rule of thumb, when you see the opt-out rate go over 2%, it is important to understand why. Around half of people who unsubscribe do so because they do not appreciate the content anymore.