Knowing Your Audience

When it comes to marketing, knowing your target audience is key. Sophisticated organizations understand that there is no one size fits all when it comes to advertising. Therefore these organizations utilize targeting, segmentation, look-alike models, and personalization to ensure that the content of their marketing campaigns speaks directly to the intended audience.

Historically, the financial and investment services industry has been very buttoned-up and conservative when it comes to marketing. However, that’s changing with the likes of companies such as Wealthfront who are shaking up the financial status quo. Wealthfront understands the relationship between its message and its audience. The following commercial runs on cable TV channels frequented by Generation Y viewers, that you simply wouldn’t expect from a financial services organizations – yet, this is the very thing that is setting Wealthfront apart from the competition. It really gets interesting at 0:43.

However, let’s not be fooled. Wealthfront chooses it content and messaging carefully when advertising on more conservative cable television channels such as FOX News. See what runs there.

Notice the lack of lifestyle images, people, humor and butt-grabbing. Instead the visuals are of graphs and value propositions.

Knowing your customer base and target audience is instrumental in creating the right types of marketing campaigns. How you message to your target demographics should remain consistent through the entire customer journey – from lead generation to retention marketing. Your customers aren’t cookie cutter, and your marketing campaigns shouldn’t be either.