This question came to mind while reading Seth Godin's insightful post "Marketing lessons from the US election". He approached the election from a marketer's point of view, not from a partisan perspective. There were lessons learned, and new techniques used in this year's election that will be studied for years to come. However, I just want to focus on his concept of "motivating the committed" as a marketing strategy.
It reminds me of an exercise that marketing consultant Gerry Tabio took me through while I was working in radio advertising sales. His point was that traditional "demographics", in which most agencies and big national advertisers base their buying decisions (Adults 18-34, Women 25-54, etc.), are too broad. An 18-year-old and 35-year-old are two very different people, with different behaviors and buying patterns. You can't talk to them like the same person, which is why niche marketing and permission-based marketing are more effective.
He also pointed out, similar to Seth, that you can't persuade the uncommitted. And if you can, it's a much harder battle than motivating those that are interested. One of my favorite examples of this is sushi. We broke a group of 18-34 year olds into three groups:
- Eat sushi at least once a month
- Eat sushi rarely
- Never have, never will
So, stop wasting time on persuading the uncommitted's. You'll work twice as hard, and have a lower return. Strategic business blogging allows you to target niched groups based on the way they are seeking information. You have the ability to work smarter, not harder. By giving humanized, relevant content to people that are interested in specific information, businesses and organizations can drive tangible actions at a higher success rate.
