I received an email the other day promoting contests, telling me how I can become a big winner if I know contesting secrets and so forth.
Which is true, there really are methods to winning a lot of stuff through contests.
But here’s the weird part… the email was written by a guy in his early to mid-20’s and judging by the language he used, it was also targeted to that same demographic – 20 something males.
What guy in his 20’s is interested in spending hours a day entering contests to win appliances and gift certificates and what not?
I suspect the target audience for something like this is people over 40, most likely female, who have some time on their hands. You could write about how they can enter these contests while they’re standing in line, while on their commute (assuming they’re not driving) while they’re watching television and so forth.
And I’d talk about the vacations they can win, the cash prizes, and yes, the gift certificates and appliances, too.
This 20 something marketer will start making more sales when he starts choosing products to promote that appeal to the type of audience he is attracting to his mailing list – 20 something males.
A marketer has to know his or her audience and know what they want, what fits into their lifestyle, and what will bring them the benefits they seek.