How often do you watch an ad and question why you even saw it? The impression is lost because you may not relate to the product or company, meaning you fall outside of the target market. This is a result of poor targeting and results in a loss of ROI.

Philip Kotler, distinguished marketing professor at Kellogg School of Management states, in Marketing 3.0 states that “Customers are diverse, Go first to those who benefit most”. Kotler understands the importance of advertising to the right people at the right time. Marketing is about (but not limited to) the creating, communicating, and delivering of valuable goods and services to satisfy customer needs, but if the delivery is misguided, the message goes unheard. Hyper target your market, pinpoint the correct consumers, and engage them. Blanket marketing brings results but at a higher cost due to inefficiency. The readers of a muscle car magazine don’t want to see a Prius ad. You don’t need to target everyone–rather, speak to those who will listen.

As an advertising agency, you deal with a plethora of clients and their specific audiences. It is the ad agency’s job to target this market efficiently and with the correct message. This delivery can be catered to the audience’s preferred medium, be it outdoor or online, print or broadcast. The point is to send that message to the customers who care, and who will listen, and forget about those who won’t be persuaded. Research, survey, analyze the data, and understand the medias you choose to use.

Try not to outspend your competitors but instead outsmart them, spend wisely, and enjoy the success it brings. Integrate the marketing strategy with this more conscious targeting and understand the clients goals. Reaching these goals is what marketing and account planning aim for, and in the end it builds a strong business relationship.