I would like to get a volunteer from the audience, please. This is a normal phase that starts the most dynamic magic tricks within a magic show. But, just as a magician has already picked the card they want you to pick during a magic trick, and manipulates the picker to pick the selected card, magicians are also very selective with the audience member they decide upon.

When the magician looks into the crowd, seemingly randomly, his choices are being made to select someone in the crowd that is the most like the others in the crowd; someone that would be believably naive and someone that is a good representation of the rest of us. If I can relate to the person being brought up as a volunteer, it is more likely that I will connect and understand them – therefore making the magic “trick” that much more believable.

Just like magic, marketing requires the magician (the marketer in this case) to identify and reach out to the people in the crowd that are the most likely to become clients. This evaluation is commonly called “creating personas” or defining the characteristics of an “ideal client”. However, the selection process is just the beginning. Now the marketer needs to do some testing and get the audience participation through the campaigns they run. This audience participation comes in 3 key areas:

1. Doing feedback and listening sessions – By polling the audience through focus groups, surveys, or face to face interactions, the marketer can understand what is important in the product or service they are offering and get subjective data on how and when the ideal client may interact with the brand. Additionally, talking to current and prospective clients helps build an inclusive brand that is connecting with their ideal clients to determine what will meet the client or prospective clients’ needs.
2. Looking at other best in class competitors – As you try to determine which clients will be good targets, evaluating other companies that have received market share within your target is a great start.
   • What is the sophistication level of the content being created?
   • Is the messaging very playful and humorous or serious and direct?
   • Is advertising done through digital mediums, physical media or a mix of both?
   • What brand messaging comes through in the advertising?
3. Determine the demographics of the ideal client and prospect – Determining where your product marketing and messaging will be propagated will be determined by where your clients and prospects are at.
   • Where do these people shop and / or consume targeted marketing?
   • What is the average income of clients and prospects that need your product and can afford to attain your product or service?
   • What are the desires of these clients and prospects? Do they want a higher level of status that your product delivers? Do they want to be seen as value shoppers? Does your product or service return your targeted client or prospect to a status they had before?

Just as the magician works his craft in defining his best prospect to complete his magic trick, the same is the case in selecting the proper type of individuals to market to in everyday business.

Using these 3 steps will have you pulling rabbits out of your hat!