I added a funny graphic to my Facebook Profile and asked my teenage daughter to check it out. She did not find it funny. Our marketing efforts need to be understood to be effective as well.
Here is the graphic that I put on my Facebook Wall:
Lionel Richie Tea Graphic
What I thought would be funny to her, was not. She was not a Lionel Ritchie fan. My teenage daughter really had not heard of him. Thus, she did not understand what I was trying to imply with the graphic. The joke was ruined in her eyes because she did not have the necessary background to understand and enjoy what I was trying to do.
Now my older friends understood and appreciated the humor for the graphic:
They got it 🙂
Like a good joke, your marketing efforts can suffer from the same issues. In order to understand what you are saying, your customers will have to have a background understanding. Many times marketeers miss the mark by not helping their customers understand what they are trying to say.
The bottom line is this: if your audience does not understand what you are trying to say, you have just wasted everyone’s time. You need to help your audience “Get it”. When you market to a group, make sure your audience has the necessary background to make sure that your marketing is understood.
So what’s our walk-a-way for today? Try to imagine that you are your audience; and see if there is any way that your efforts might not be understood. You might have to prepare your audience for your marketing.
