Who’s Audience Are You Marketing To?
I’m a tea drinker who has recently discovered the joys of gourmet loose leaf tea.
My most recent order was a selection of oolong teas- one of which is Wu-Yi. Now, I’ve discovered that out of the three oolong teas that I’ve selected, I only considere the Wu-Yi to be so-so. However, I did remember all those advertisements blasted across the web for Wu-Yi being some sort of weight loss wonder drink, so I thought I’d look up a little information on it before giving it the heave-ho.
I saw an ad promising diet reviews of the Wu-Yi tea. I followed the link to see what they had to say.
This is where I discovered the first problem. All this site had to offer was a short blurb about 5 different sources of Wu-Yi tea. They were reviewing the sites, not the tea or the diets. At first I thought this was a rather clever way to funnel traffic through their affiliate accounts, but when I went to choose one, there was no link! Not only that, but the linked website was the first listed.
Remember the article I mentioned a few posts ago? The one about how to get people to buy what you’re selling? The key to promotion is in mentioning what a product can do and then give the consumer the solution (usually being “click here, buy this”). By placing the linked website at the top/front of the list, I was convinced that it was the least worthy! I was already frustrated when I clicked through, and that’s not what you want your potential customer to be feeling. (By the way, it turned out to be a mini site/satellite site, which is a great idea, just poorly executed.)
At first, I was rather impressed with the website’s over all design. It was, after all, rather attractive and a good use of WordPress. The location of the articles was relatively good- requiring a bit of scrolling past sales pitches, but clear enough to not be obnoxious. To my freelance writer eye, the articles were also obviously rewritten PLR or possibly spinned articles (or budget original). They also lacked the most important thing- information.
If a consumer is taking the time to read your articles, they’re not going to be swayed by a sales pitch. A little weak content is fine for SEO purposes, but if you’re going to build an all-out website? Make sure you have something good for the more discerning patron.
That, however, was not my biggest concern. What annoyed me the most, and what spurred on this post, were the pictures used.
Now, let me explain something. Weight Loss is not a niche, it’s a category. Men’s weight loss is a niche. Pet weight loss is a niche (and yes, pet weight can be a problem). Teen weight loss is a niche, and so on. But weight loss itself is too broad. If you’re focusing on something as broad as weight loss in general, you need to think about who your audience is or you’ll lose them to someone else who actually has focus.
And the biggest market for weight loss products? Women. The biggest market for natural/organic products? Women. (That was one of their selling points.) So tell me, why on God’s green earth, would you put a picture like this in front of an overweight woman who believes in natural products?
Yes, she’s slim and toned. Yes, most of us overweight women would like to look like her. But that look screams “I’m going to rip your shirt off and then dance naked until you jump me”, not “Look! I’m slim and toned, and I did it naturally!”. Remember: Fake tits and organic anything don’t mix.
Sex sells. But male oriented sex? Does not sell to women.
There were many more pictures like this, and some taut and toned men, which would be fine if the market and target audience been other than what it is. There were also more appropriate photos that actually indicated weight loss (thin women with measuring tapes, or holding their oversized pants away from the waist, and so on). There were also books by Oprah, Rachel Ray, and Kevin Trudeau, which tend to be very appealing to the target market.
We all say that content is king, and in many cases it’s true. But design can tell your customers more about who you are than your words can. Makes sure that you’re appealing to the right audience, because otherwise? You’re just flushing sales down the proverbial toilet.
Ya Digg?
Nice post WV
It is true that when you are selling something to somebody you need to think about your target audience. Like you said, some of the pictures were geared more towards males then females and I’m sure that if they took into account what you stated they might even make more money then what they are. That is if they are making any money of course.
+1 For the use of fake tits and sex in this post
Jarrets last blog post..Finding A Profitable Niche - Part 2
Comment by Jarret — September 27, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
Thanks, Jarret!
Yes, those photos would have been fine if they were marketing to men- even though it still wouldn’t give the correct impression, they’d at least be accurate attention getters! Their design just seemed to be all over the place, like they were trying to catch too many people with the same content. Bad idea.
Sweet! What happens when I hit 10 points?
Comment by wordvixen — September 28, 2008 @ 6:48 am
I am still laughing about fake tits and organic anything not mixing, because you are so right. I think some of the advertising is created by men who want to see the sexy little woman with big boobs, however they are not targeting well. If more women were in charge of marketing to women, I think sales of those products would skyrocket, as we know what we like to see VS what a man wants to see.
PS: I would not count anything written by Kevin Trudeau, as he is a known scammer and BS’er.
WAHM Taras last blog post..Home Business Opportuity Catering To Brides
Comment by WAHM Tara — September 29, 2008 @ 1:40 am
Tara- I completely agree about women marketing to women vs men marketing to women. I’ve seriously been considering it, but I can’t make up my mind whether I want to focus on a few big projects, or lots of little ones.
And I totally agree about Kevin Trudeau (Borrowed a friend’s copy just to see what all the hype was about? And it was just that- hype. Absolutely pathetic.)- I was just making the point that his books are targeted products to the audience this site was targeting. Much as Oprah and Rachel Ray are (neither of which are a fount of good info, aside from RR’s recipes).
Comment by wordvixen — September 29, 2008 @ 3:24 am
You have hit the nail on its head. It’s true marketing is all about talking to the right audience with the right product.
I’m not too sure if drinking tea is a male-dominated activity as I don’t (I’m a coffee drinker) but I don’t see the connection of using the picture with drinking tea. In my culture, drinking tea is a family-oriented activity so you don’t see stuffs like that here.
But who am I to judge the creative mind of the site owner? On the other hand, sex always sell..
Yan
Blog for Beginnerss last blog post..The Best 15 SEO Tools At Your Disposal
Comment by Blog for Beginners — October 1, 2008 @ 4:57 am
Hi Yan! It’s nice to see you here again.
Usually the men that I see drinking tea are doing it for health reasons (not always, but usually), which would be appropriate to the site- but sending mixed signals that way was not a good sales approach.
*lol* You’re right- I should have picked up on the point that sexy pictures and tea don’t mix.
Comment by wordvixen — October 1, 2008 @ 6:55 am
Lol, good stuff! That had to be hilarious. The truth is most people don’t have a plan when they are putting together their websites. They are just running. I cannot fault them, but it is true that a little understanding can take you a long way.
Freddies last blog post..Goal Setting Sunday: Week 6
Comment by Freddie — October 6, 2008 @ 2:33 am
Freddie- Oh yeah- I know that I do it all the time (If I don’t just do it, it’ll never get done), but I know enough to not publicize it until it’s ready! I really think that people should hire me to look over their sites before releasing them into the world.
Wonder how much I could charge for that?
Comment by wordvixen — October 7, 2008 @ 5:58 pm