Know Who Your Audience Is!
Archives: Copywriting
When I was younger, I loved watching Who’s the Boss. One episode still stands out for me. Though the details may have become muddled with time, here’s the gist of it: Housekeeper Tony takes a class on advertising from ad exec Angela. His assignment? To come up with a commercial selling laundry detergent.
The end product involves Amazonian women wrestling in mud. All the guys in Tony’s class love it. But Angela gives it a failing grade. Why? Because Tony had forgotten who his target audience was: women. And women would be either uninterested in Tony’s commercial… or, worse, offended by it.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? You’ve got to know who your target audience is before you write a word of sales copy.
Of course, big-name brand advertisers forget this rule all the time. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay – or that you can afford to ignore it.
When you sit down to write a sales letter or commercial, always begin with your prospective customer. The best idea… the best execution… and all the money in the world won’t matter if your ad doesn’t connect with your target audience.
[Ed. Note: Even so-called "experts" in advertising forget the rules. But you can get a refresher course from two master copywriters at ETR's 2008 Information Marketing Bootcamp. John Forde and Charlie Byrne will be revealing some of their juiciest secrets to writing money-making sales letters. Reserve your spot - and learn how you can make between $100,000 and $1.2 million from our panel of expert speakers - right here.]
I LOVED Who’s the boss! Good article too