Most companies do a good job identifying their target audience(s) but often drop the (marketing) ball when it comes to the all-important next step: delivering the message. They make the mistake of communicating in a way that is most comfortable or convenient to them (I’m looking at you, email blast) instead of the way recipients prefer to receive information. Obviously, a message that never reaches its intended audience has no chance of influencing behavior.
A reminder of the importance of marrying audience/message/delivery method recently came from an unexpected source, the President of the United States. Barack Obama may be the leader of the free world, but he’s also a politician whose agenda includes making young people aware of the Affordable Care Act and the availability of health insurance. Knowing this particular audience needed to be reached in a different way than their parents, the POTUS utilized a guest spot on the Funny or Die comedy series “Between Two Ferns” to make his pitch. (You can see the interview with Zach Galafianakis here).
Instead of getting hung up on whether a spoof interview on the Internet was beneath “presidential” standards, Obama delivered his words in a forum his target audience viewed favorably. The result? FunnyorDie.com became the number one source of referrals for healthcare.gov, the Affordable Care Act’s official website.
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