Lenssen Media - Target Group: A Matter of Perspective

A Matter Of Perspective

In marketing and Public Relations, all our actions must be geared to our target group. We cannot sell our products or services, unless we manage to create a desire for them. Although this fact is part of the marketing basics, we still see a lot of material that is not target group oriented at all. Technology-driven companies, for example, still tend to have a very technical approach. Sometimes this is because marketing is practiced by very technically oriented people, such as engineers. Most of the time, however, it is just the inside view that blocks the marketeer's mind.

While the internal perspective offers in-depth knowledge about products, services, the organizational structure or the actual corporate identity, which are all important factors in marketing and PR, it does, at the same time, prevent marketing professionals from seeing what the market requires and what the target group actually wants.

Step Back!

This is very much like standing in front of a big canvas with an oil painting of Vincent Van Gogh in the Louvre or the New York Museum of Modern Art, say "The Starry Night" or one of his late self-portraits. If you stand very close to the painting, you will be able to admire the unique and powerful, line-shaped brush strokes, the thick application of paint, the brilliant choice of colors. This might, however, be all you see. You will have to step back, a few steps back, to take in the picture as a whole, to actually see, in the case of "The Starry Night", the bright stars, the shining moon, the whirling clouds, the hills, the town and the dark cypress tree in the foreground.

This is exactly what is necessary to obtain your target group's perspective. Step back. Try to forget about your company and your products for a while. Pretend you are a potential customer. What would you think? How would you perceive the market? Do any brands stand out? What would you buy and why? What would be your needs?

How To Get A Good Target Group Perspective

This is fairly easy, if you are marketing a product or service that you would buy yourself, as a private person or for your company. It might become a little more challenging, if you are addressing target groups that you cannot relate to just as easily. If you are marketing surf boards, for example, but have never hit the waves yourself, then you need to either start surfing, hang out with surfers for quite a while or do extensive research with focus groups. Ideally, focus group interviews would be led and video-taped by an external research team, allowing you to gain an insight into aspects such as your brand recognition in the market, your product image, your company's image, your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. It is amazing what your target group can tell you, when they do not know that they are your target group and when they are not actually talking to you personally, but to an outsider!

Get An External View!

Most of the time, the best idea to optimally address your target group is to outsource some marketing and PR tasks. External marketing professionals might see things that internal marketeers simply cannot see. Their perspective is per se that of an outsider, just like the perspective of your target group. They do not have to carry the burden of the accumulated knowledge of decades of company history. They do not work within the hierarchy structures of your company. They are free to try something new. They take the liberty to question outdated conventions. It is often helpful when this comes from an external expert. All you need is to give your external marketeer a thorough briefing and a clear task.