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Seth Godin
ad was appropriate for the target market and that the ad
ran in media that would reach that market. Implicit in the
idea of targeting, though, is the conceit that it was up to
the marketers to decide who would pay attention and
when.
Today, of course, the opposite is true. It’s the consumers
who choose. They choose whether you are listened to or
ignored. How do they decide Are some consumers more
likely than others to listen What separates the listeners
from the others
The big secret of Google ads is that they are both contextually
relevant and presented to the type of person
who’s likely to act on them. You see a Google “ad” just
moments after you’ve typed in a search term for that very
item! Compare this to a loud, unwelcome interruption of
a less-focused consumer, and the difference is clear.
At any given moment, in any given market, some people
are all ears. They want to hear from you. They look
through the Yellow Pages, subscribe to trade magazines,
and visit Web sites looking for more information. Some of
these people will eventually buy; some are just looking.
So here comes the big idea:
It is useless to advertise to anyone
(except interested sneezers with influence).
You need to do this advertising when these consumers
are actually looking for help, and in a place where they’ll
find you. Of course, advertising to one interested person
is a good idea, but the real win occurs when the person
who’s listening is a sneezer likely to tell her friends and
colleagues.
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