I hope you’re enjoying our ongoing discussion on message to market match and the marketing triangle.  So far we talk about the markets you choose and the message (what you say).  You can click on those links to review at my blog.

Today we’ll move on to Media which means the devices you use to get new clients to your business and how you get past clients to buy again.  Remember, we’re using Dan Kennedy’s Marketing Triangle as a basis for our conversation.
 
By media, I’m talking about any means of delivering your message to your target audience (your market).  These can include (but certainly not limited to):

• Direct mail
• Yellow pages
• Newspapers
• TV
• Radio
• Websites
• Blogs
• Videos
• Seminars
• Tele-seminars
• Webinars
• Car racks
• Signage
• Billboards
• Banners
• ValPak style mailers

The list goes on and on. 

I know some of you probably have some pre-conceived notions about some of the media listed and think of some of them as bad or good media. 

To be honest, there is no such thing as a bad or good media, just as there is not good or bad tool in your toolbox in the garage.  There are tools that are more appropriate than others, say if you want to pound in a nail, or screw in a screw.  One does better than the other for certain jobs.  The same is true with your media. 

Here’s an example.  If you’re targeting people over the age of 70 for vacation rentals in Florida during the winter, relying solely internet websites, online videos and e-mail is foolish.  You’ll need to use other media to reach those people such as direct mail or magazine/newspaper ads.  However, if you’re targeting college aged spring breakers to come to Lake Havasu, then the web may be a perfect
place and you’ll probably want to rule out the yellow pages, Val-Pak etc.

You want to limit yourself to those media that are paid the most attention to, and the ones that are preferred and given creditability by your target audience.  And, most importantly, one you can affordable reach.  To know if they are affordable, that means you must track your lifetime customer value (LTCV) and short term customer value (STCV) as some media can and should be ruled out and make others more attractive.