Media Matters – How to Tell if You’re Shouting in the Wrong Direction

I took the dog for a walk today. 

He’s an old lad. A Jack Russell named Woody. 

Woody and I like to walk. We go exploring the Warwickshire countryside as frequently as work and the weather allows. 

But today was a little different. 

Things went a little wrong. 

As I walked along, I was admiring the scenery and contemplating next week’s projects. Woody was plodding on behind me sniffing, exploring and doing what dogs should do. 

After a little while, I realise it’s gone a little quiet. I can no longer hear his padding feet behind me. 

I turn around and take a look but there’s no Woody. No problem, I think. He’s probably just wandered off the path into the woods. 

So I start heading back the way we came, shouting his name. 

“Woody! Here boy!” I shout. 

Still nothing. A good ten minutes go by, I’m still shouting into the woods but no Woody. I’mng to worry. 

Eventually, I turn back around just in time to see Woody slowly plodding towards me, from the other direction. I’d been shooting in the wrong direction the whole time!

I rushed up to him and gave him a good stroke – I’m sure he was a bit confused about what all the fuss was about. 

As we continued our walk Id thinking. The whole time Woody had been lost, I’d been shouting in the wrong direction. It didn’t matter how loud I shouted – he wouldn’t hear me because he wasn’t there! 

It’s a mistake I see businesses make with their marketing all the time. 

They have a great product, they craft an excellent message – but their campaign falls flat on its face because they’re sharing it in the wrong places. 

They’re sharing it in the places where their target market is not hanging out. 

But the next step in the marketing campaign planning process is deciding which media to use to share your message. 

You’ve got to shout in the right direction. 

If you’re selling mobility scooters to the elderly, there’s no point in paying for ads on Instagram. 

If you’re selling 18-30s holidays, you probably don’t want to place an ad in a puzzle magazine. 

So where is your target market hanging out? If you can meet them where they’re at with a product that solves their pains and a message that connects that’s how you get incredible results from your marketing.