When I studied a foreign language in high school, I struggled. Not because it was difficult, but because I never felt like I had enough information to move through the tasks assigned.
Often we were given vocabulary words and a story that was about a paragraph in length, told to memorize the story and then be prepared to hold a short conversation about it with a partner.
The stories were always instantly intriguing to me. A couple that I recall were about a girl playing with a friend during recess, while another was a delightful story about Pepé and his shoes.
While I knew my grade depended on my ability to memorize the words, know the story and ultimately hold a conversation, there was something about those stories that made me lose focus on what I was trying to accomplish.
I always felt like I needed more of the story. Who was this little girl and what was so special about her recess? Who was she playing with? And who was this Pepé? What was so special about his shoes? Where did he live? Who were his friends?
I would often lose so much focus wondering about these details, that I never had time to properly complete the assignment. I always had to wing it, usually throwing in whatever I could remember from the week before – which I thought would bring me bonus points, but it never did.
Interestingly, the kinds of questions I asked then, are the same questions I have needed to ask many times over the course of my career. The need to establish who your audience is and how they choose to communicate, makes for a successful marketing campaign. During that time, I successfully completed a year of Chinese, and two or three years of Spanish, but can pretty much only count sequentially and hold conversations about shoes and recess.
Here at Haley Marketing Group, we have the tools you need to help answer those questions – and more. Our team can help you with determining your demographics, how to best speak to them and then, finally, measure the results. If you have questions, Haley Marketing Group can help you find the answers and deliver results.
