.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Are you a 25-54-year-old male who wants a motorcycle?

I’m pretty sure that there has never been anyone who is 25-54. Maybe 27 or 39. But not the whole range.

And yet, most marketing plans talk demographics. We describe our target audience in such broad terms that, at best, they are a blur. No wonder most marketing copy (brochures, radio scripts, Web sites) is vague and uninspired. If I asked you to say three things about a motorcycle that would appeal to a 25-54-year-old, how in the world would you know what to say?

But what if I said: You are talking to a 52-year-old man. He’s a white-collar professional who just dropped his youngest off at college. His 50th birthday hit him pretty hard. He has been at the same company for eight years, and he and his wife get away for two or three long weekends a year, and they take one family vacation a year, to their condo timeshare in Boca Raton, Fla.

This past year, he and his wife celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and he surprised her with a diamond eternity band.

He likes to read thrillers and spy stories. He putters a little in the garden and plays poker twice a month with old college buddies. He often says, “Life is not about the destination; it is about the journey.”

Now, could you come up with three things about a motorcycle that would appeal to this man? I bet your copy isn’t vague anymore.

Rather than trying to talk to demographics, try creating the perfect customer. Every business has one. That doesn’t mean every customer will match all of the criteria, but the closer you get, the better. Next week’s column will explore how to do just that.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2010 Drew McLellan