Well that’s pretty simple really. Show me a hunter and I’ll show you a trained marketing professional. I’ve spoken to many hunters and the thing that I have noticed is that they love the preparation and the hunting more than the actual killing of the animal. The dead animal is the proof that they had prepared properly, researched correctly, and tracked the target well. Whatever your dead animal (or the objective of your online advertising) is, the process is exactly the same as hunting.

First, know your target. The good hunters get out before hunting season to research locations where their targets may be. They monitor animal trails, foot prints, droppings, etc. All of this is to better understand the likelihood of getting the animal that they want. How many animals pass this point? How many times per day? What is the size of those that are passing? What research are you doing on your customers’ behavior patterns?

Next, know thyself. Take a look at what you are offering your target and how you are attempting to catch their attention. If the roles were reversed would your marketing campaign work on you? Hunters will scout out the best location to take advantage of passersby. They will actually pick out a couple of locations around a busy travel path, and use different ones based upon the time of day or direction the wind is blowing.

Finally, know your weapons. Familiarize yourself with what others in your industry are using to reach their target. Start with a couple of different methods and get good at them, and expand from there. If you try to do everything at once, you won’t get good enough at any of them. Shotguns are great for smaller, faster, and flying animals in fairly close range, but not so good with larger animals at a distance.

Here’s a tip for those of you that already have customers: Study them. Don’t assume that because you have studied them once, that you know them. The marketplace is always changing, study your most recent customers and track trends.

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