Target Your Audience

There would be very few advertisers who would find the importance of targeting an alien concept. But it's one thing to know who you want to target and quite different on how to target them.
Ad targeting just does not end at targeting geo-locations and selecting keywords in Adwords or ecard sections on 123greetings Sponsored Links.

A targeted ad really targets the need of the audience in a location. So you need to know

1. What is likely to be in demand in a specific geography
2. What regional aspect fuels the demand
3. How you address the demand
4. And if you are really looking to survive in the competitive arena for long, you need to create a demand too!

It doesn't matter if you do not have separate products for separate audiences, very few do.
What I mean by the above four points is about positioning your product. You need to understand what would capture your potential buyer's fancy.
Take the example of a garment seller. He will need to know the climate, culture and any specific events and occasions in the geography to position himself. So a pullover with holiday motifs would do good in US in winter while he'll have to think if thats the best approach to reach his Asian markets.
An ad must address the specifics of the audience to offer a positive ROI.