Seth Godin says:

And yet too often, we pick the product or service first, deciding that it’s perfect and then rushing to market, sure that the audience will sort itself out. Too often, though, we end up with nothing.

It’s what real estate agents do a lot. They open an office and design their marketing material before deciding who they want to do business with. They want to work with sellers and pretend they work with buyers but in the end do neither really well.

The smart move is to develop a customer persona – a fictional person who represents your ideal customer. Then, when you’re creating marketing material or writing ad copy, write to that person. The copy will be relevant to a smaller audience but it will be far more effective.