Who is the ad meant for?

I once read an interesting article on how to train your mind. The author talks about how he loved watching Super Bowls with his dad growing up. He said that whenever an ad came up, his dad would ask him, “Son, who do you think this ad is meant for?” Over the years, the author continued this game, having trained his mind to always determine whether an ad was meant for a certain customer profile or if it was just a branding stint.

When we market our offerings we can often get caught up in our own preferences and choices, especially with how we brand and advertise, that we forget to consider whether the ad will connect with our target audience (for whom the ad was supposed to be created in the first place). Our advertising efforts will fall short, with the messaging appealing to those who are like us, rather than our target audience. The result = no response. 

So, how can we avoid this trap?

Think like your Ideal Customer –

Start by sketching their avatar in your mind, then on paper. Inform your sketch by answering the following questions:

1. What are their demographics? Age, gender, location
2. What are their values, interests and preferences?
3. What is their socio-economic status?
4. What is their industry, job title, and description?
5. Why would your message move this customer? What are the pain points or advantages that your ad highlights? 

Visualizing this Ideal Customer will help you rethink how you position your messaging on social media. It can greatly influence the way you design your digital ads. Keep in mind that the ad format is small, and the duration to create an impact is about two seconds or less. So, your ad’s visuals and messaging should be strong enough to quickly capture your customer’s attention.

Another worthwhile strategy to implement with your digital ads is A/B testing. Simply put, it compares two versions of the ad or the landing page to identify which one is more popular and performs better. You take version A and make a slight change either to the text or the ad’s visual and launch it as Version B.

Determining your Ideal Customer and implementing A/B testing is an excellent digital marketing methodology to help you further understand your customer’s behavior patterns and preferences and a great way to get closer to your Ideal Customer’s ‘Avatar.’

Good luck creating your organization’s Ideal Customer. Reach out to our team for assistance working through the process. We would we happy to help.