Unlocking the Power of Problem-Based Targeting in Paid Media Campaigns

Discover how to optimize your paid media campaigns by focusing on problems and solutions instead of demographics.

Survivorship Bias

One of the problems I see very often in businesses, especially high ticket business is this slow, almost unnoticed shift to only focus on deals that have already been one. This is not inherently a bad idea, most people know the best way to get started with new creative or offers is to run it against a lookalike audience of your buyers. You already have data and it makes perfect sense to use it. 

The problem with this comes with overreliance on past successes and the inability to look past your current buyers to find new cohorts of potential buyers.

Many times businesses will launch new offer after new offer, constantly targeting that growing lookalike audience of buyers, constantly refining their copy to better target them, constantly improving the funnel and sales process and even product offering to hone in on that buyer. 

Then it all breaks. All at once. All of a sudden, CPM's are skyrocketing, costs are through the roof, and your scrambling trying to figure out why. Ask me how I know. So then you go back to the drawing board, looking for where you might have went wrong, and Survivorship Bias rears its head.

Real quick on what survivorship bias is. 

Survivorship bias the act of only focus on things that worked and overlooking what didn't. In marketing, this most often occurs when overly focusing on your current customers and overlooking the potential customers you aren't reaching.

This leads to businesses having some really complicated marketing stacks, trying to maximize exposure to Women aged 27-32 in 21 different states but excluding 50 cities, and often times it runs really well until it stops, because it's way too narrow.

It is critical that we avoid hyperfocusing on a specific group of people and instead take a balanced approach that ensures we are constantly reaching out to new potential customers that we can help.

Understanding the limitations of demographic-based targeting

Demographic-based targeting has long been a staple in the world of paid media. By segmenting audiences based on age, gender, location, and other demographic factors, marketers have been able to reach specific groups of people who are more likely to be interested in their products or services. However, this traditional approach has its limitations.

One of the main limitations of demographic-based targeting is that it assumes all individuals within a specific demographic group share the same problem and desire the same solution to that problem. In reality, people within the same demographic group can have vastly different lifestyles, preferences, problems, goals, and budgets. For example, two women in their 30s living in the same city could have completely different lives. One of them may be a first time mother who is struggling to balance her work and home life balance. One may be a single woman rising through mid senior level corporate positions and looking for a competitive edge. These people are likely not going to be looking at the same problems, and therefore are not going to be looking for the same solution. By relying solely on demographics, we risk missing out on valuable opportunities to connect with people who have a problem that we can solve.

Another limitation comes from the fact that while demographics are primarily static. Yes people might move, they may change their job title, but from day to day it's going to remain primarily the same. In the above example, one woman went from being single to being a mom. This demographic shift occurs at one point, but the lead up to and follow up of the problems she is facing, and will face, are rapidly shifting. Demographic information is rarely able to keep up with the speed that people live their lives.

Finally, demographic information is incredibly expensive, and in many ways, likely to be phased out for privacy concerns. In almost every case, running ads to a target demographic is much more expensive and less effective then running a broad audience where the creative targets the problem.

To overcome these limitations, it's essential to shift our focus from demographics to problem-based targeting.

Shifting focus to problem-based targeting

All products and services are really just a solution to a problem someone has. At it's most basic level, a solid ad looks something like this:

If you have X problem, Y solution can help, if your interested, do Z

Now we obviously want to build this up more, but this is what we are looking at. So why are we looking so hard at demographics when the answer is in the very beginning of our ad? If you have X problem. This is the homing missile of targeting. Yes we need to use better language, we may want a pattern interrupt, we may want to agitate the problem, and give more details on the solution, but we have our targeting right there. 

Just about every ad platform is going to optimize based on interactions with your ad, so if we are able to craft creative that properly targets people with the problem we can solve, we don't really need demographics at all. 

If I'm selling a $125,000 car, do I really want to target people who I think based on data that I have or bought, or do I want to look at what problems that car solves. Who cares if it's a 22 year old TikTok influencer that's way outside my target demographic if they're coming in and buying a car?

Instead of relying on broad demographic categories, you can create highly targeted campaigns that address specific problems and offer tailored solutions. This approach allows you to connect with individuals who are actively seeking solutions to their problems, making them more likely to engage with your ads and convert into customers. This is how I've been able to generate high quality leads from Facebook for B2B and high ticket sales. Stepping away from demographics and buyer data (while not ignoring it) and focusing on what problems are being solved and how they are being solved, and sticking it right on the ad. Facebook will figure out the rest. 

Problem based targeting also prevents backing yourself into a creative or targeting corner. New people are going to have the problem you solve every day, from all over the place. Focus on your solution and how it helps people solve that problem, and you will find yourself getting clients that you never even thought would want your service. 

By shifting your focus to problem-based targeting, you can unlock the true power of paid media and maximize your campaign's effectiveness.

Identifying common problems and pain points

To successfully implement problem-based targeting, it's crucial to identify the common problems and pain points that your target audience is experiencing. This requires "thorough research and analysis". By thorough research and analysis, I mean thinking about it for about... 30 minutes. Seriously. Chances are you don't need to over think this. Take a pad of paper or open up a blank document on your device. Write down every problem your product solves. Anything that comes to mind. It might look something like this:

Platform to organize and catalogue ad creative alongside it's performance across different platforms

Problems:

-Large agencies creating and maintaining complicated media libraries
-Large amounts of time spent on looking over performance data, creating reports, then having to go back to look at them when creating new ads
- Time to launch ads increased by recreating or finding existing ad creative, re uploading or reentering creative information
- Repetitive ad creation creates more mistakes which can cost time, money, or lost business

I just took a few minutes to think up a product (that I would love by the way so if you're selling that let me know) and some problems that it can solve. 

These problems can be felt by a large variety of people, effectively anyone who runs ads, and do not require any targeting at all. Instead of looking at a demographic and attempting to match the problems to them, we can instead look at the problem and tailor it to a specific demographic, if needed. Top of mind, the three main groups I see that are really straightforward targets are business owners or heads of marketing, entrepreneurs running their own ads, and ad professionals who manage ads. I can create three really simple ads based on these three targets, and can start testing different pain points, benefits, and offers that I can craft for these audiences. 

Remember, problem-based targeting is an ongoing process. As your audience evolves and new problems arise, continue to monitor and adapt your targeting strategies to stay relevant and effective.

Implementing problem-based targeting in your paid media campaigns

To implement problem-based targeting in your paid media campaigns, start by revisiting your audience segmentation. Instead of relying solely on demographics, create segments based on the problems your product or service solves. Once you have a solid list, start looking for people who have those problems, and build your creative around it. This creates segments that are far more robust and dynamic then demographics alone.

Start broad, and narrow down only by problem/solution pairs. Focus on what type of person is going to have the problem you can solve, and let them know you can help them. It requires a shift in strategy, but will almost always win out over a basic demographic strategy, or solely focusing on people you've already sold and trying to build countless lookalikes.