The Real Secret of Relevance in Marketing

Good marketing comes in two forms, not one.  There is marketing that is relevant, appears at the right time to the right people and is likely to influence actions.  This is the kind of marketing that everyone in the industry strives for.  It's what we think is good.  The problem is, it misses the one element that is perhaps the most important ... timing.  You can reach the exact right customer about the exact right product and have the exact right creative delivery.  But if they are not seeking the type of information you provide, or in the midst of some other activity, your efforts fall on deaf ears.  Even keyword marketing, which many would propose could never be irrelevant or badly timed if a customer has to physically click the ad, can be ineffective if the information you drive someone to is not consistent with their point in their own purchase cycle.  For example, you will never convert a customer to purchase if they are only at a point of researching options - but they may very well click your keyword ad anyway. 

The real question is, assuming you are able to create relevant marketing, how do you ensure that your efforts are most likely to be acted upon?  The real secret, I believe, comes from going one step further than relevance.  It comes from understanding that point your customer is in their own cycle and timing delivery of the message that is most likely to influence them based on what you can understand from the type of information they may be seeking.  This is Mindset Marketing.  It involves knowing what type of information is most likely to influence your target audience and delivering that information at the right moment.  If the mantra for real estate is all about the location, the new mantra for marketing should be all about the timing.