Did you ever play road games when you were young? These are games you can play in your car, especially on long drives, such as the Alphabet Game. In this game, you have to find a word on a sign that begins with the successive letters of the alphabet. A, B, and C are very easy. There are many signs that start with these letters. Q and Z tend to be very difficult. Qdoba and Zillow are sure to be rare finds. X is nearly impossible. Unless you can find an old street crossing sign like the one posted above, X can be very difficult (although maybe a little easier if you look in the fine print for an updated Twitter reference.)

How hard is it to find your marketing? You may have the best products and services in your industry, but if you don’t successfully promote your brand through your marketing, you can be the best-kept secret on the market. That is not a good thing if you want to grow your business.

Marketing is all about making it easy on the customer to engage with your brand in every possible way. It should be easy for them to identify your brand, understand what you are selling and why they would need it. It should also be easy for them to find it. You want to be the A, B, Cs of marketing, not the Q, X and Z. In that way, you must make sure your brand is in as many places as people in your target market would be looking.

Does that mean you advertise everywhere? No! In fact, you will be throwing away good marketing dollars if you do so and will likely go broke in the process. There are too many places to market your brand. You have to be more selective to be effective in marketing. How do you do that? First, define your target market. Not everyone is a great fit to buy from you. Define those groups of people who are a great fit and then find out what they are like. Where do they hang out? What do they watch? What do they like and dislike? Most of all, where do they do their shopping? Market to them through the format they prefer and in line with what they think is acceptable. For instance, if you were trying to sell teenagers on your brand, advertising on Facebook would be a poor choice. Teenagers don’t use Facebook. They believe it is lame because it is the social media their grandma uses. If you were to use X or Instagram, you’d have a better chance at them. You’d probably have an even better chance if you advertised on YouTube or TikTok.

But is it really as simple as finding a format that fits your target market? Your messaging also has to resonate with your customers. It has to be bold enough to capture their attention, but not over the line of what is considered in good taste with your primary audience. Putting the wrong message on the right format will do more harm than good. Again, this goes back to knowing your target market very well. How many times have you seen a brand self-destruct when it offends its own customer base? Marketing is often edgy to capture the attention of the consumer, but there are value lines that each person holds that you must not cross if you intend to make them your customer. If you do, they will leave you.

What I am saying is elementary to successful marketing. You have to be relevant to your audience not only in the marketing format you use, but also in your messaging. Promote your brand so it is easy to find and easy to understand. Be edgy, but within appropriate lines. Most of all, tell your target market how your brand can help them in a pertinent way.