There’s an in-column ad and a full page display ad walking down the street, they both got run over by a double truck

The chances are that if you’re in the yellow pages industry you at least smiled at that, if you’re one of the other 99.99% of people out there, you’re wondering what the heck could possibly be amusing about that. Well I’m using it to try to illustrate how you should target the correct audience for your site, which should be a fundamental goal, for in targeting the correct audience you’re going to get the best conversion rate at the best price.

Understanding your audience
Obviously you do need to understand what your target audience is. You should be at least aware of what demographics / regions you’re aiming for, and you should have visibility into the traffic that you’re actually getting to see if that’s who is really coming over and converting into sales. Don’t forget that baking soda was never intended to be a refrigerator freshener.

Using the right verbiage
Write for your audience, if they feel that you’re speaking to them they’ll become more comfortable with your site and your company, and be more willing to convert. If you’re using PPC, research the right keywords for your target audience - Is it soda? Is it pop? Is it fizzy lemonade?

Setting the look and feel
If your site is to be targeted to professionals, then it’s obviously going to have a much different look and feel than one targeted to tweens. Do research, find out what’s apppealing to your target demographics, and tailor your site to that.

Picking the right partners
If you’re going to work with an outside company to design or market your site, make sure that they understand the target audience. In fact, try to find partners that understand that target audience better than you do, they’ll be able to spot issues and concerns that you might not have done due to your proximity to the project.

Targeting the right audience
If you’re doing PPC, make sure to use the tools that are available to you - geo-targeting in Google, MSN & Yahoo, demographic targeting in MSN, day parting in Google & MSN, etc. For your site, make sure to use appropriate keywords in your copy to try to ensure that you’re targeting the right audience. If you’re a plumber in Bergen County, NJ, it’s not much use for youwhen a consumer in Denver finds your site, you want to make sure that your location is mentioned on your site for the engines to pick up on where you are.

Monitoring and Adjusting your targeting
As I mentioned earlier, if you see through your analytics that your intended target audience isn’t converting as highly as other groups, you may want to look into whether or not you are truly targeting your intended audience correctly, or whether you are just going after the wrong audience. You should be prepared to shift focus if the data points you in another direction.

So what’s a double truck? It’s the name for a 2 page display ad in the phone book