October Novel Prep Challenge

I agree wholeheartedly from a human perspective, but I'm also very practical and a business owner. Here's the problem with avoiding statistical demographics:

How do you market to everybody?

Marketing is very expensive. When I was young, I heard that a full-page ad in the Yellow Pages cost $10,000, and I thought, no way, that's a joke. As a business-owning grown-up, I can tell you that it's legit.

My business teaches music lessons to students ranging from age 3 to retired adult. I have the gamut of music education seekers:

- parents trying to help their kids find their passions
- parents trying to get their kids the hell out of the house
- bored, retired adults looking for something to do
- working adults whose parents never supported their desire to learn
- teens who have decided to pursue music as a career
- tweens who want to be Taylor Swift
- parents of preschoolers who want their kids to start socializing
- parents who believe (correctly) that music will help their kids in school
- etc, etc.

Do I wish everybody wanted music lessons? Of course I do. Can I afford to target everybody in my marketing strategy? Hell, no. Marketing is expensive. So who do I target?

I choose the market that gets me the biggest bang for my buck, the market that brings me the highest number of clients for the lowest marketing cost.

That's why I use statistical demographics. Because the majority of my students - majority meaning more than half, not 99% - range between the ages of 7-12 years old; they're beginners; and they can afford to pay for music lessons, I target parents with 7-to-12-year-olds who can afford to pay for music lessons. I advertise in the local penny saver (read by stay-at-home moms); movie theatres (frequented by families with children); and signage on major thoroughfares (roads utilized by parents on their way to and from work.) I optimize my website for mobile and Google, since busy parents rely on their phones for everything. I spend most of my social media time on Facebook (moms and dads) and Instagram (kids) rather than Twitter or G+. When we throw a music-themed festival, it's Harry Potter or Star Wars, not The Walking Dead or Star Trek (which would be fun festivals, admittedly, but not for 10-year-olds.)

As marketers, we only have so much time and money. Demographic profiles - which are statistically-based - are the best way to get the most bang for your buck. Like it or not, we have to put people into boxes - Democrat vs. Republican, black vs. white, old vs. young, Slytherin vs. Gryffindor - to sell our stuff to the most people for the least of our time and money.

Demographics = statistics. That doesn't mean everybody in a demographic fits a certain profile. It means that most people in that demographic fit the profile.

Cheers,
Michelle