Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

5.1. Exploring Different Demographics

Your farm area is probably populated by a variety of people—people of different generations, genders, ethnicities, beliefs, and lifestyles. Chances are very good that your marketing materials either are overly generic or target a very narrow demographic. If this is the case, you could be missing the mark (or more appropriately, missing the market) with various groups of prospective clients. Chances are also very good that your competitors have missed the mark as well, leaving the field wide open. By targeting these underserved customers, you can often win over a huge segment of the market that you and your competitors have neglected.

In the following sections, I describe some of the common characteristics of various demographic groups, so you can adapt your marketing and sales presentations to appeal to each group. By adapting your strategies and techniques, you will be better able to serve market segments that traditionally have been neglected: specific generations, people who are disabled, underserved racial or ethnic groups, and global markets.

5.1.1. Identifying Generational Differences

Every individual is different, so you cannot realistically say that everyone from a particular generation is going to act a certain way, choose the same lifestyle, or share the same dreams. However, just as people who grow up under the same roof have certain similarities, people who grow up during the same era tend to share some common traits and preferences. ...