How Do You Market to a Modern Audience?

The world of marketing is one that is of consistent interest to businesses. This isn’t surprising when you consider how vital it is to the overall success of their operations. However, the proper approach to marketing is one that is always shifting. As a result of that, it shouldn’t surprise you that advertising to a modern audience comes with its fair share of difficulties.

You might find yourself in the same position as these businesses. You want to carve out an identity and personality for your brand, but you want to do so in a way that is going to resonate with people. With that in mind, what should you avoid?

Know What’s Popular

Knowing what’s popular doesn’t necessarily mean leaning into every passing trend and meme that comes by, as this might be a quick way to make your marketing content look dated very shortly after it’s released. Furthermore, such an obvious attempt to be relevant might not always be greeted so warmly. Instead, this is about knowing what topics to avoid entirely, and where people’s general opinions are so that you can play those to your benefit. For example, smoking isn’t seen as the fashionable accessory it once was, so casually leaning into that in your advertising might not elicit the reaction you’re hoping for. Instead, turning your attention to disposable vapes and the incredible popularity that they seem to have in today’s world might be a better use of your professional time.

While that can be a good indication of where to focus your time and effort when marketing, it can also be extrapolated outwards – towards potential business ventures if you were looking for a trend to take advantage of. The same approach can be broadly applied to social issues as well, such as climate change, and how being affirmative with your actions in relation to helping to solve the problem can benefit the appearance of your business.

How Positive is Too Positive?

This is a question that every advertising campaign has to reckon with. Do you go for a positive, feel-good approach in an effort to counteract much of the negativity that people might be exposed to through the news and other gritty forms of popular entertainment? It makes sense that you would want your brand to be associated with these kinds of positive emotions, making leaning into that a no-brainer. However, it’s also worth considering how this would appear to your audiences, and how you might risk coming across as obnoxious or aggressively positive to an audience that might not want to see it – you might come across as out of touch and unrealistic. Showcasing your material to test audiences might help you to strike a middle-ground, but what’s the alternative?

Well, it goes without saying that you need to judge your audience – both the temperament of the wider culture and who you’re trying to directly appeal to. The latter is more variable, so just focus on the former for now. Take the UK for instance, there is a general appreciation of dry-humour that you might feel allows you a more relatable tone than blanket positivity. This doesn’t mean that you have to be overtly negative, simply that you might want to consider what a more subtle approach might do for the message you’re trying to convey.

Your Position Amongst the Many

Another factor that might prove to be an important one when considering your marketing approach is the fact that you’re far from the only business trying to claim the attention of your audience members. There are other businesses, not all of which you’re going to be in competition with, but enough to give your customers an understanding of the multiple marketing approaches being deployed. Therefore, if you go with something overly familiar, or come across as saccharine to the point of being insincere, you might not have as much of an impact as you’re hoping for, certainly not the one you intend to have anyway.

It’s understandable that you want to approach your marketing in a way that’s proven and safe, so that it has as much chance of being a success as possible, but it might also be vital that you ensure your own essence and identity is carried through when you’re trying to reach an audience who believes that they’ve seen it all. The modern world might be a more cynical one than you believe, and being advertised to at every turn can make the recipient more naturally inclined against new adverts than they might have been in the past. Needless to say, you’ve got your work cut out for you.