If you market to everyone, you market to no one.

Last week, an old acquaintance who works in advertising texted me out of the blue with a photo of my banner hanging on the fence outside one of our local schools.

Here’s what he said:

“Saw your banner here at BAMS. Way to support your school. As a marketing pro, I’d suggest you move your banner one night and place it near the signal facing Camino Vera Cruz so people stuck at the light can stare at your handsome mug. Your banner is inside the fence near the carpool turn-in... figured more eyeballs on Vera Cruz.”

Now, he’s not wrong about one thing: my banner isn’t on a busy street. It’s on a corner of the fence that’s only visible when you’re pulling into the school parking lot. Most people driving by would never see it.

But here’s the part he missed, and it’s an important one:

If you market to everyone, you market to NO ONE.

The irony? I’m on the board of the organization that sells these banners. I’ve had my pick of location for the last three years, and my banner hasn’t left that spot…

Why? Because I know my people.

My kids go to that school. The people I market to have kids at that school. During drop-off and pick-up, those homeowners are sitting in the car line, stuck behind the same slow-moving parade of Sprinter Vans every day. And while they wait, they see my banner. Not for a second while flying past at 40 miles per hour, but often for minutes at a time.

That’s targeted marketing.

Unfortunately, advice like this is very common in the real estate industry. Take some nice photos, post the listing on the MLS, let it sync to Zillow, put a sign in the yard, host a couple of open houses, and wait for the calls to roll in.

I see this done on $600K one-bedroom condos and on multi-million dollar beachfront homes.

Realtors love to say “It only takes one.”  While that may be true, it has to be the right one!

Here’s the truth, from someone who lives and breathes this market: every home has a story. Every home has an ideal buyer. Every home has features worth highlighting, and others better left in the background.

Great marketing starts with knowing what story to tell, who needs to hear it, and how to tell it.

And in a market with more inventory and less urgency, the details matter more than ever.

If I put my banner on a busy street, maybe I catch the eye of a few strangers. But if I keep it where the people who already know me see it every day, I’m staying visible to the ones who matter most.

If you’re trying to catch a tuna, you don’t throw out a net and hope for the best. You gear up. You learn their patterns. You go where they are, with the right boat, the right bait, and the right approach.

That’s how you catch a tuna.

And that’s how you sell a home.