What Las Vegas Strip Bootie Brokers Need to Learn About Shotgun Marketing

So as I’m walking the streets of Las Vegas during BlogWorld 2008 with my Sparkplugging pals, we’re bombarded by people peddling flyers for strip clubs. And I’m thinking, “Wow. They really need to rethink their target market.”

For every 1,000 flyers they distribute, maybe what, 3-5 people buy in? The Las Vegas Strip is full of tourists. Anyone from 20-somethings showing off their cheap spandex fashion to retirees spending their IRAs. So why would someone trying to get people to go to a strip club pass out flyers to these people?

For marketing newbies, this is the Shotgun Approach. Sending out your message to anyone around, regardless of how well they fit into your target market.

Television is another great example. Sure, advertisers can target the type of person who watches Ugly Betty and attempt to cater the advertising during that show to appeal to that demographic. But in reality, of all the commercials you watch in a given sitting (if you even watch the commercials), how many actually stimulated you to go buy the product?

This is such a wasteful approach. So how could these Vegas vagrants do a better job getting their message out? Bootie Brokers, as I call them, would do better to pass out flyers outside other adult clubs (night or strip). That’s their market, so they’d have a higher rate of return.

That being said, how are you approaching your market? Do you know your market? Do you do your best to reach them directly or do you do whatever seems easiest, not caring about how much return you get? If B is your answer, do this experiment:

· Take the time to identify who your buyers are.

· Figure out how they like to receive their marketing.

· Use that channel to reach them, even as a test.

· Measure the results. How many sales did you make compared to how much you spent (time and money)?

· Now: do you prefer the shotgun effect or the direct targeted approach?