A saying I always liked

[Dan Furman]

I run into a lot of business owners who do their own marketing, etc. And invariably, many end up letting their personal tastes dictate their marketing direction.

For example, I know one business owner who lets his politics dictate what newspapers he advertises in. Another lets their taste in TV dictate what TV stations they advertise on. Another wouldn't have a website because he was a "local" business and said "What's the point? I never searched for a local business online"

Anyway, the saying I like addresses this - how your opinion really doesn't matter as much as you think it does. It's used in the radio business, and it goes something like this:

"Every song, no matter how bad, is somebody's favorite song"

Besides explaining why "I shot the sheriff" gets airplay, I think it's a good thing to remember.

[KristineS]

I think falling into the trap of "everybody thinks like me" is a very easy thing for marketers and advertisers to do.

I know we try to have as many different people as possible look at our stuff, just to see what sort of reactions we get. Getting different viewpoints is so valuable, and it often points out things that might have been unclear or not terribly effective.

[orion_joel]

Just imagine if a company like General Motors decided not to advertise in any paper that gave one of their cars a poor review. Now maybe most of their cars get good reviews, but it would still be cutting a poor marketing decision.

[vangogh]

I've come across the same thing. Everyone needs to realize your marketing isn't for you. It's for your potential customers. You already think your products are great. You know you offer valuable services. The others out there don't and they're the ones you need to convince.

There is a danger in assuming everyone thinks like you do. Some people will, but many others won't. Sometimes it's ok to lean in one direction even though it may mean pushing some people away. Small business can not appeal to everyone. No company truly can, but small business lack the resources to try to appeal to everyone. We generall need to pick and choose parts of the overall market instead of the whole market.

But that doesn't mean we should make the assumption that because we like or don't like something everyone else will agree with us. If you build a business based around your own personal tastes you'll have a business that appeals strongly to you at the expense of everyone else.

[BillR]

I've run into this more times than I can count...

A good rule of thumb from the book "The Dilbert Principle" by Scott Adams - "It doesn't matter how many people think an idea is bad - all that matters is how many think it's good".

[Business Attorney]

Whether it is in advertising placement, ad content or even customer service (which, after all, is for many businesses their most important "marketing" of all), the people that I have found to be the most successful in business are those that really understand their customers.

In the case of finding new business, that means knowing who the potential customers are, what features/goods/services they need and where they are looking. If you fail to understand any one of those three, you are going to miss your target.

[greenoak]

good point and the same thing would be good advice for ad people.......
.. i would pay a lot for a local ad person who came here , got our thing, and had a relevant plan for us.....but thats not what ive found.....i see on line offers, but i wouldnt try it online, it would be too hard ......and the ad people i do see, the newspaper people who want our business, produce very pathetic work, with few exceptions....thus we do most of our own marketing,,, in house and as best we can...

i totally accept that much of my job is figuring out what my customers want and how i can serve them better..
ann