For marketing messages to be effective, you need to really think about who it is that you are speaking to. Too many marketers only think about a single audience for their message: the end customer. The end customer may be your primary audience, but they are not the only one.
There are a number of other audiences that may need marketing messages crafted specifically for them, including:
- Online influencers, such as prominent bloggers in your field, influential websites and analysts,
- Distribution channels,
- Sales and marketing partners,
- the press and media,
- your ecosystem partners, such as complementary software vendors, hardware vendors or system integrators,
- other key stakeholders that your end customer looks to for guidance or approval on their buying decision (this is especially important for B2B applications).
Your end customer will be influenced not only by your marketing messages directly targeted at them, but also by these other stakeholders and influencers. The more consistent messages they receive from different channels, the more likely they are to make a positive buying decision in your favor.
Bottom line: when crafting your marketing messages and marketing plan, don’t forget to build target messaging and budget marketing activities for all audiences that are important in influencing your customer’s purchase decision.
