How To Flirt With Your Target Market – So They Crush On You!

By Hala Ali , Feb 15 2015

What Is Marketing If Not Flirting In a Suit?

A ‘tweet’ becomes a wink, a ‘like’ is a touch, and if there is ‘share’ or ‘comment’, people we have a crush!

Flirting can be described as ‘…the act of getting to know the people you are interested in… hoping it develops into a more serious relationship.’

I will in the next step explicate marketing as, ‘…the act of getting to know your target market…hoping it develops into a sale.’

As successful marketers we must understand that every individual in our target market is a potential customer. The allure we place on our ‘lines’ is what will attract the audience towards our business whether it is a service or product.

The audience has to be seen as ‘that special’ unique ‘someone’ you hope will crush on you, and so we must ensure we entice them, interest them and keep flirting with them until they give us the attention we so crave.

Which Type of Flirt vs. Marketer Are You?

A study in 2010 printed in the October-December issue of the journal Communication Quarterly suggests that there are five types of flirts. When we understand the traits of the flirts, we can then decipher them to derivate the characteristics of marketers and create more effective communication. Consider the below chart and determine where you stand.

Which-type-of-marketer-are-you?

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So what type of marketer are you? If you decipher the marketing persona will it make your technique (whether flirting or marketing) more effective?

When you deconstruct the marketing personas you can identify one as ‘yours’ and utilize the traits for more effective marketing. There is no one marketing trait generally more effective than another.

The key to effective marketing is understanding your goal. Do you want to have a short term exchange, do you just want to dangle the message or do you want to continue a dialogue for a longer relationship?

The Art of Flirting 101

Flirting aka marketing is about giving the audience a piece of information, and then withdrawing to create interest. Once that curiosity is generated, you create a channel of communication that keeps the interest growing; subtly withdrawing every now and then to create a tension that is arousing and dynamic.

The audience has to want more, unwittingly charmed by the grace of the conversation. The successful flirt will be able to make any audience fall in flirt within 60 seconds and continue the love affair as needed.

1. Identify Your Audience

target-audience

Think individual buyer profiles to understand your audience. You need to create a form of communication that gets the audience to pay attention. In fishing terms you have got to capture the market, ‘hook, line and sinker.’

Understand your demographics, what they want, who they are, how they think and how they communicate. You can’t win them all but if you create a process of communication (whether through social media or offline communication) to entice them towards your business you will be successful.

2. If They Talk to You-They Like You

they-like-you

The hardest part of marketing is getting the audience engaged. If you have them talking you have won half the battle. They probably have a crush on you, just work your advantage without being an ‘in your face’ marketer. Be subtle, dignified and think gentleman or woman. It is a lure that will never fail. Have a strategy that is unique, and interesting.

3. Be Bad

be-bad

The reformed ‘rake’ always has the lasting relationship (or so they say). Create an out-of-the-box persona for your business that keeps your audience on their toes. Don’t be too easy, make your audience work for your attention but when you give it to them, make sure every word counts.

The marketing communication should be based on quality not quantity. Create marketing presentations that are alluring, make them keep coming back for more. The mystique is the most compelling aspect of marketing and used in just the right context, will cause people to take action.

4. Have a Vice with Prestige.

vice-with-prestige

Never be afraid to say or do what other businesses are afraid too. A spin off from ‘being bad’ having a vice is not necessarily a disadvantage. If you have a product that had a flaw, own up. Gave a customer some bad customer service? Apologize.

Your vices are what makes your business approachable, however, utilize your vices to create prestige and honor. Your brand is your honor or prestige and if you are always on a high horse, you become arrogant. To be approachable you need a vice, and then you need to know how to play the audience, and guide them to falling in lust with you(r) product.

5. Break the Barriers

break-the-barriers

Begin the sales message too soon and you lose your audience. The charmer uses gestures of intimacies like accidently brushing against his object of affection, without pulling away too fast.

Learn from the charmer. Don’t overwhelm the target audience with sales quips. Just have fun with creating a connection. Give coupons, educate them and generally stay positive. Remember, the endgame is not the target. It’s creating an enjoyable engagement as a process that matters. Don’t hope every marketing message will create a sale, just engage enough to break the barriers.

The target can make out a fake a mile away.

Is it a Love Affair?

The bottom line for marketers is flirting is half the charm of communication and building relationships with the target audience. The more you mingle the more you create a presence. If you are aware of your method of communication you have greater insight and can work the process to take into consideration your weaknesses and strengths.

At times, as marketers we may be effective in attracting the audience, but fail to create a relationship. Just think of it as an investment, when the time is right that attraction can be called upon to create a more lasting association.

Don’t sweat the end, consider it a no pressure relationship. You hope there is a future, but if not, flirting was mutually entertaining.

I am a digital marketing consultant with a focus on small and mid-sized enterprises. I believe the focus of every business should be on creating a consistent brand identity online and offline.

 

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