How Marketing to Your Market Is Like Inviting People Over for Dinner

Have you noticed your friends and families palettes are getting pickier?

When I was a child it wasn't uncommon to have neighbors, friends, people from church, couples from my dad's workplace and extended family over to share a meal. As a youngster and as I got older, part of my duties included helping Mom out in the kitchen with the food preparation.

There was a variety of dishes and entrees my Mom prepared. She was, and is, a good cook. But I don't remember my mom asking ahead about food preferences and allergies.

In my world, that is completely different. I have many friends who are different degrees of vegetarian, lactose intolerant, low-fat, salt free, and gluten intolerant. Inviting people over for dinner doesn't just involve shopping and preparing a meal - I take into consideration who is coming and deciding on a menu that will be appropriate for their diets. Recently I invited a neighbor over for dinner. I asked about any allergies or food restraints. Not only is he a vegetarian, but he eats no dairy and no wheat products. "But I enjoy sustainable fish," he told me.

For some of you, this may be over the top. I can hear you thinking out loud, "When in Rome, eat what the Romans eat!" Others of you are thinking - "This is why we go to restaurants when we get together with friends!"

My question to you is this: Do you treat your clients and customers like this? You serve a specific market with a specific demographic of people who have very customized wants and needs. Do you know those wants and needs? Do you care?

You should. You really, really should. Because if you do not bother to learn about the nuances, interests and yes, even idiosyncrasies of your prospective clients and customers, you will lose a lot of business and networking opportunities.

Think of the Benefits

Yes, it can be a pain to cook to specific diets, especially when they are far removed from my own. But it's not about me. I have invited others over to serve them, to give them a break from cooking and for them to relax and have a wonderful meal in my home.

When I go to the effort to make a meal customized to fit their dietary desires, how do you think they feel? If the meal turns out well, my visitors sense that I truly care - which I do. In a crazy, busy world where some people are too absorbed in the frustrations and challenges of life to pay attention to those around them, those who eat with me feel I have prepared a special meal for them.

And the same is true for your customers. Are you seeking to write ads for a company who markets to baby boomers nearing retirement? Perhaps you have a marketing idea to improve traffic to a children's clothing store website- how can you show the marketers and owners of the company that you are right for the job?

Be the one who does the homework on the audience. Know what the target buyers love and hate, what conveniences are important to them, what social media networks they use. You may be in love with Twitter but if your target audience spends 80% of their online time on Pinterest, you need to get savvy fast!

Go where the people you serve go and see delve into their hopes, dreams, and needs. When you begin to connect with them at the heart level, the return will be twofold. First, your insight will help you develop products and services perfectly fit for your customers. Second, people will want what you have to offer because it fits them- it is the delicious entree they have been looking and longing for!