There’s a new survey out about how teenagers are a fragmented and “schizophrenic” market. Basically, the report says that teens won’t buy/use a product/service because they are told to or told it’s cool, they themselves have to make that determination. In other words, it is the buyer who selects, for his/her own reasons, not blindly thinking what s/he is told to think or choosing for any other reason than it is right for her/his needs/wants.
I think this is very true for all market segments today and it applies to marketing your creative service to your buyers. There’s a lot more choice out there and clients (just like consumers) are selecting what is best for their needs and desires. And, they are willing to pay appropriately (that is, well) for the right creative work.
As I have been “preaching” for some time, selecting your targets is the most important thing you can do in your marketing. Select targets that are the most likely to be interested in your services and your ROI on all your tools will go up–as will your sales.
Marketing these days is more about presenting an offering to a buyer rather than convincing/selling the buyer on the product/service. You are not going to convince any intelligent client to buy your creative services by sending a postcard or buying a sourcebook ad or having a great website. It’s not like they are going to say to themselves, “I didn’t know I needed this service/product, but this great brochure has convinced me otherwise!” If they don’t need your kind of work, then no amount of marketing is going to change that.
But by telling your story consistently and across media, targeting potential clients who have used work like yours in the past or who somehow demonstrate that they may have a legitimate need/desire for your kind of work, you will give that intelligent buyer a chance to choose you for his/her own reasons. S/he will be aware that your company is out there and will understand what it is that you offer. So, if that client needs and wants work like yours, you will get the project. Clients like this will say “Hey, I need this kind of work for the Widget campaign and John Photographer makes images exactly like that; I’ll call him.”