Pitches: Missing the Mark with a Shotgun is Easier Than You Think...

AARP, the American Association of Retired People has been running a new ad on NY Metro TV lately. It features a couple in logo-emblazoned red jackets repeating a catch-phrase, "Real Possibilities in NY" in conversation and through a bull-horn, alluding to free events. I find it annoying. For me, it falls flat for a couple of important reasons.

First, there is no benefit content at all, so it feels like the kind of ads run by corporations to increase their public awareness level just before a stock offering. Second, it isn't targeted very effectively. AARP's market are retired people. People who have been around the block a few times.

If you've been pitched to your whole life -- say for fifty or more years -- you know when your being pitched and can easily disregard any message if it doesn't carry direct connection with your actual life. That's one reason why I believe "lifestyle" advertising is wasted on anyone over fifty. Our aspirations are very different from younger generations. As a result, we're a tougher market to break into. Of course, if all of AARP's copywriters and communications people are in their twenties and thirties, they wouldn't get this point at all, and would write the kind of excitement-based copy that would appeal to their own generation, wouldn't they?

The point if this observation is to highlight just how critical it is to really understand your market. Now, with the bombardment of ad pitches hitting us every waking moment, an effective one has to be very well crafted. One of the things I've noticed, from the perspective of a retired adman, is just how many advertisers think that simply taking their message onto a trendy, band-wagon is enough to get results. Well, the internet is nothing if not composed of high volumes of that kind of traffic, but I don't think that approach is going to be as effective as it might, especially to an older market.

But whichever demographic you are targeting, your pitching needs to be crafted to make a solid, personal connection with potential customers. Back in the day, the great, older account executives that took me "under the wing" usually stressed that ad copy needs to contain real benefits to the specific consumer, otherwise, it's just a lot of verbage. "Engage your market," they'd tell me; "give them a reason to reply, but always make sure their reply can't be a simple, NO".

For Self-Published Authors, this admonition is critical because of the shrinking ability of a single message to even be seen, given all the pitches flying through the ether. Most writers I know want to have a best-selling book to their credit, but accepting that paring down the market and narrowing your sights is more effective than painting in big broad strokes to capture the widest visibility, seems to be a counter-intuitive lesson. Still, in the majority of cases, without very deep pockets to support a media blow-out and celeb endorsement, it's the best choice left on the table.

We all have unique voices in our writing. Not just the content of our stories, but the voice that brings the story into the heart of a reader. While a specific reader may have already read two or three versions of your break-out plotline, chances are, if they're not acquainted with your work, your telling of that story is unique for them. That unique flavor should be a main ingredient in your marketing mix.

You know the kind of folks that have responded to your humor and viewpoint your whole life. Your friends among them, these are your target readers. Your time spent in getting to really know what moves them, what motivates them and what their interests are, will never be wasted as long as you shape your pitches accordingly. Don't just go out into a noisy city with a bull-horn. For every single person that listens, remember there are three thousand (not hard data, just my estimate) that find it annoying and turn away. But if your message is a directed, personal whisper, even in Times Square you'll make a connection. Maybe especially in Times Square, but that's a whole 'nother discussion...