Understanding your audience

After a recent encounter where the intended audience of an event was not in correlation with how said event seemed to be advertised, I feel compelled to touch on the subject. They tell you in every writing class you will ever take that understanding one's audience is of utmost importance, and leads to an enhanced piece. I suppose I didn't fully understand this until seeing such a sharp contrast between intended and actual.

I can understand if you're not quite sure of who your audience is. That comes with time and practice and a great deal of thought. If you're still learning who your audience is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I would encourage you to continue exploring boundaries and what you enjoy and what gets the best reception and where. That's certainly a space I find myself in frequently. However, once you know who your audience is, make sure that your audience doesn't get confused on who they are. 

Advertisements are an important piece of getting your work out there. The most important part, for all intents and purposes. I concede to not knowing much about the topic, but I do know that you should be advertising to your audience. If your audience is children, don't be trying to advertise to college students, and vice versa. Different groups respond to different things, and there are plenty of sources you can find about what attracts who. You should use those sources. It may seem pandering or steretypical, but the fact is that it will work ninety percent or so of the time. Some people may be pushed away by that, and they may even be people who would have enjoyed your work otherwise, but there are other ways to reach them, some of which may not even be under your control. That's just how it's going to go sometimes. 

At other times, you may want to move away from an established audience. This is also something that is understandable and acceptable. However, when doing so, try to make that transition clear to your old audience. Let them know in no uncertain terms that you are going to attempt something different, and may or may not be continuing on with what you did in the past. Make it clear that your new product is for someone else. And for all that is holy, don't continue to advertise your new product in the same way you advertised your old one. Your product is different - so should your advertisement. 

I don't know a whole lot about advertising. I spend too much time trying to understand the creation part. But I do know that your advertisement should at least be somehow related to your product. It's too bad a lot of advertisers don't seem to get that part.