“It’s not for you”; A Slogan Marketers Need to Add to Their Vocabulary in 2023

Ever tried explaining a product or a service to someone who thought it was a complete waste of their time? Through the years, I’ve had to go to great lengths to convince people of the quality of the products I sell. As a marketer, my goal is to get an additional customer who will see the solution we have created for a problem they have. However, in all of this, I have found out that some people don’t just get it.

My experience has taught me that thinking everyone is your customer is your fastest road to disaster regardless of how great your product is. In spite of Coca-Cola’s enormous global appeal, they have a target audience. For a product to be successful, especially a digital product, marketers must understand that their solution doesn’t solve everybody’s problem.

For marketers to be successful in translating product ideas into digestible communication, there are fundamental things we need to put in place for it to be effective. When we take a product to the market, our immediate thought will be to get in as many new users. This sounds good in the short term but the effect, in the long run, can have serious business implications. Huge churn rate, inactive users, and a host of other negative metrics you don’t want to see on your data board.

Regardless of how great your product is, some people will not just get it and that’s fine. If you, however, get into this kind of situation where you have explained your product, talk about the problem and the solution, and the prospect is still in doubt, feel free to tell them; This product is not for you. We are not supposed to say that. We are certainly not supposed to want to say that but we must.

“It’s not for you” shows the ability to respect someone enough that you are not going to waste their time, pander to them, or insist that they change their beliefs. It shows respect for the customers you choose to serve. “I created this product with you in mind and not the other folks” Two sides of the same coin.

It’s the freedom to ignore the critics who don’t get the joke, the privilege of polishing your story for those who most need to hear it.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what the people you are not seeking to serve think. What matter is if you have created a solution for the people you seek to serve and if this solution meets them at the point of their needs.

We know that every best-selling book on Amazon has at least a few one-star ratings. It’s impossible to create work that both matters and pleases everyone.

This was inspired by Seth Godin’s book: This is Marketing