The relationship between marketers and their audiences can be compared to that of the Follow-me Vehicle and the aircraft.
I was introduced to the Follow-me vehicle in my first few weeks as an intern in Lagos Airport.
Follow-me vehicles at airports drive ahead of aircrafts after landing and guide them to their bays. This is often the case when the pilot is either new or not familiar with the airport.
And just like a new pilot in an unfamiliar runway, marketers don’t always know their way around new audiences.
This is largely the reason why marketers turn to other marketers for ideas and insights rather than learning through audience insight.
Why you should follow your audience
Following your audience, observing their needs and pain points will help you develop a solid marketing strategy.
Audience-driven strategy is the best marketing strategy any organisation can implement because it bothers solely on undiluted consumer insights.
If your target audience are on Twitter, you should be on Twitter. If they’re on LinkedIn, you need to be found there as well.
If they react positively to video content, you should create more video content. If they fancy glamour and sophistication, communicate this in your marketing copies and ads.
The general idea is to go wherever your audience attention is. Don’t focus on what other marketers are doing, instead follow your audience.
Real marketing insight lies with your audience. As marketers, your job isn’t to lead your audience, rather let your audience lead while you follow.
Additionally, every business regardless of the niche they operate in has a different target audience.
There may be some form of overlap between these businesses, but you can’t import the audience insight from one brand into another.
Every marketer will give you their own idea of what they think will work best for you, but only by following your audience can you unlock key insights.