Dont Try to Sell a Steak to a Vegetarian

Posted by Paul Hines
16
Oct 3, 2025
134 Views
Image

Don’t Try to Sell a Steak to a Vegetarian: Marketing Lesson Essay


It’s hard to imagine a bigger marketing sin than selling the wrong product to the wrong audience. There’s no point in trying to sell a juicy, flavorful, 100% organic and rare cooked steak to a vegetarian. It does not matter how much you insist and convince that this is a real masterpiece; the person sitting in front of you just has no use for that product.


The same logic also applies in marketing. It is a common problem to get trapped in a never-ending loop of attracting, persuading, and closing the wrong leads. In other words, a target audience that does not have a need, want, or problem your product/service is designed to solve.


However, there is no need to insist on “convincing” these people to buy your product or service. A better approach is to invest effort and resources into attracting the RIGHT target audience.


An analogy of selling steak to a vegetarian would be a man in a market of cheese who is not doing his best to increase his chances. Instead, he persistently tries to sell his product to those who do not need cheese and certainly have no plan to buy.


The truth is that it is not a real sign of marketing success, and it is always better to spend your time and money on those who already have a need, desire, and problem.


For this, it is necessary to first determine the target audience in the same way, and as the vegetarian prioritizes health, morals, or other motives for their menu, different people have different motivations for your product or service.


This is not just about correctly labeling your ideal buyer in terms of a job, age, location, and industry. It is far more important to understand his mental model; what does he value and why does he need your product or service.


Finding a good target audience means that you no longer need to be in “sales” mode. You already “sold” the fact that you know your audience and offer the right “product” for them.


One more benefit of correct targeting is related to the boundaries. If you try to sell steak to a vegetarian it is not only a waste of time and effort. In case a person will feel attacked it can easily cause a problem with credibility in the future.


In the business, it can be translated into a too intrusive or just an irrelevant message which was not tailored for the audience. It also can turn into just spam in the inboxes and will damage your relationships and trust with future customers.


Therefore, always remember that the most important skill in successful marketing is EMPATHY. The better you know your audience and the more relevant you make your message to them; the more effective you will be.


It’s like talking not to random people but only to those who already need that you have to offer. And this approach works a lot better than shooting in the dark in every possible direction.


In conclusion, it is better to start giving the right meal to the right people and to stop trying to sell a steak to a vegetarian. That’s the right approach to growing your business the right way.

https://hardworkpays.now.site

Comments
avatar
Please sign in to add comment.