An old-fashioned radio had a round dial that you would turn to find a signal. If you went just too far, the sound wouldn’t be clear. When you connected with that signal, like music to your ears, the message is crystal clear.
Marketing is just like that big, fat radio dial. It is a lever we can turn and adjust to tune into a message that a particular audience is open to receiving. A radio station sends a signal in hopes that an audience will find them on the dial.
An entrepreneur with some spectacular homemade salad dressings approached me to help her market her island-inspired products. Born in Jamaica, Eralia was selling her herb-infused dressings in a few specialty food stores but didn’t know where to go from here.
Over a homemade salad dressed with mango, guava and allspice seasoning, we discussed this idea of marketing and a radio dial. I told her that she has some lovely products that people who care about the Caribbean Islands would love and that to reach them, she must find a way for them to tune into her message.
Also, what she is selling isn’t salad dressings but a taste of the islands. There is a visceral connection that is part of her story that evokes the sights, sounds, and the smell of that region. Why not market that, not her dressings?
Tuning In on Facebook
Selling in retail stores is very tedious. You have to do sampling and demos to try and find people who are willing to tune into your message. Instead, Facebook is like a radio and you can tune into a particular channel and send a message to a very particular audience.
For example, there are more than one-million people on Facebook in the U.S. who have a love of all things from the Caribbean. You can find them through targeted message. If Eralia sends a signal through sponsored ads, she can put her message in front of an audience that will resonate with her products.
And there are millions of people who visit the islands each year, and they too can be found based on their travel habits, behaviors and other signals they send out too.
I urged Eralia to think of her salad dressing bottles like little island ambassadors who share the taste of relaxation.
Salads, Signals, and Seasoning
If you are selling products and want the right people to tune into your message, you need them to be turning the dial to find your station. You need to be broadcasting your message to reach this community with the goal that your products will resonate with them.
Facebook ads allow you to show up along the dial (newsfeed) on Facebook and to connect with the right audience. Of course, you need to get the message and offer right, but being in front of the right audience is step number one.
When you send out a signal to those who love the Caribbean, your signal will be found.
Toss that idea around.
I help small to mid-sized business market themselves to the right audience. Need help finding your signal, dial this number and I can help. 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com
Photo credit: felipe-belluco-127793 Unsplash
