Are your promotions missing the mark?
Watching an old compilation edition of Mythbusters over the weekend I came across their "find a needle in a haystack" challenge. In one sense the task, as Adam showed, was relatively easy - as long as the right tool, a metal detector, was near to hand.
Unfortunately Adam's easy solution was based on a big assumption, obvious when pointed out: that the needle was metallic. What if it was a bone needle?
I didn't see the conclusion but the point (s'cuse the pun, again) stayed with me: sometimes what seems like the obvious or perfect tool for a job is actually useless because of an erroneous founding assumption.
I was reminded of the lesson when hearing about the problems of a language school advertising for students for their "English as a second language" class. Adverts in the local community paper had failed to produce results. Why? Firstly, the ad copy said something like, "If you can't read this you need our course". Apart from being mildly insulting the target audience was never going to get the message, by definition. But, more importantly, the community paper was implicitly aimed at English speakers.
Maybe the advertiser hoped that English speaking family and friends reading the paper would see the ad and pass it on, but clearly this wasn't happening. In point of fact the course was due to be cancelled the following term due to lack of students.
In desperation the tutor (in an inspired act of job protection) had some flyers printed up and distributed them in a variety of places where potential students were likely to be, including community centres, churches and even takeaways and dairies in areas with large ethnic populations. I expect the content was more appealing, and maybe even was translated into various languages other than English.
The result: the course is not only being retained but expanded in response to the flood of new students enrolling for the coming term.
How does this story relate to you? Consider your assumptions about your market. Are the means you're using to send messages to your audience, and possibly the content, in fact completely missing the mark?
Here's an exercise: ask a dozen customers and prospects how they get information relevant to their job, their profession and their industry. Talk about online and print and other media, including word of mouth and industry meetings. Ask them (if you don't already) how they heard about you and your product. You might be surprised.
