A customer called me on the phone to ask me a question. "What do you think of video?” he asked quite excitedly, like he had already decided to incorporate the medium into his marketing plans. "I like video. We do video,” I said back to him. "Yeah, everyone is watching video these days and we need to do it, put it all over our web site, start a YouTube channel, put it out on Vimeo,” he continued. "Do you know what you want to promote and who you want to reach?” I asked. "Everything! Everyone!” was his reply.

I hope you know that trying to sell "everything to everyone” is not much of a marketing strategy and is sure to fall apart. But let me tell you how my client – a normally very intelligent guy – made such a ridiculous assertion. He had been bitten by love. No, he had not fallen for a woman he met through an online dating site. He had actually fallen in love with something more seductive: a marketing medium. There is something very alluring about the tools that we use to attract customers to our products or services. That may be a TV commercial, radio advertising, print ads, brochures, billboards… you name it, the medium is enticing. It is easy to become so locked in to promoting your company via a marketing medium that you can simply lose your marketing focus.

How do you keep the medium love bug from biting you? Before you select a marketing medium, keep this strategy in mind.

1. Who is my target market? Defining the set of people that form a demographic grouping or some segment of industry that is most likely to purchase what you produce is always the first step. Unless you are peddling air, not everyone you meet is in your target market. Make sure you know at whom you are shooting.

2. What is unique about my product or service that would solve a problem or make life easier for people in my target market? Unless you are selling a necessity of life, most marketing is about convincing people that what you are peddling is needed because life is easier with it rather than without it or it makes them feel good. This is where you build your marketing message – regardless of the medium. This is where you build your brand. If you miss this step, your marketing efforts will simply crumble.

3. What is the best medium to capture the attention of my target market? There are countless ways to advertise what you do. Some marketing methods will work with the majority of your target market, but many more will not. Does it make sense to have a golf outing during the middle of the day in May if you are trying to sell apparel to teenagers? Absurd! Of course not! Would it make sense then to post a funny hipster video on YouTube if you are trying to sell to the top ten CEOs of accounting firms in your region? Equally absurd! Don’t let the medium seduce you into thinking that everyone is watching one medium. Marketing mediums are not equal to all groups.

4. When is my target market ready to listen so that they will fully engage with my marketing message? This is equally as important as the medium. What is the mood of your market? When they are in the midst of eating a family dinner, they may or may not be ready to listen to your ad. Timing is key.

5. Are you giving them memorable contact information and action steps so that they move closer to a sale after they hear your message? One of the biggest failures of advertising is not giving someone a clear action to take, nor one they can remember five minutes after they watch your ad. Pay attention to this. They may love your message, resonate with your imagery, but have no idea how to do business with you afterwards.

Strategy really matters in marketing. Selecting the medium before you make the strategy is much like marrying the first person you see walking down the street on the first Monday of the month. The prospects of lifelong love are rather unlikely.