Fish Where the Fish Are

An old lesson learned again.

I went fishing last weekend for six hours in the middle of the day. I caught nothing. My 5-year-old son joined us late in the day (dinner time) and he immediately caught his first fish (and two others moments later). Lesson learned? Sure, go ahead. I am not a good fisherman. What else? Fish where the fish are. Sounds like an age-old marketing lesson to me.

There are so many bloggers, white papers, analyst, ad agencies and consultants all telling us how to better understand the emerging online marketing world. Each one has a secret for how to balance traditional advertising and the new digital media. Maybe the most fundamental rule of marketing has never changed – fish where the fish are. Today over 66.2% of all US consumers are online and 1 out of 3 is on Facebook. Over 56% of all leisure travelers are now making reservations online. If you are in the travel industry, your web site is more than a brochure of amenities; it’s now your visitor center!

So the basic rule of marketing is alive and well. Fish where the fish are. Don’t be afraid to go there or worry if it’s a trend or not. There once was a time the fish were only watching three TV channels. Tomorrow the fish may be on the moon. If so, we will all be exploring ways to market there too. I’ll settle for the online world today.