Learn How to Identify Your Target Market
Knowing how to identify your target market is crucial if you want your marketing dollars to be well-spent and get a return on your investment. You can’t just take a wild guess and hope that you are going to nail some of the people in your market. It takes some patience, thought, and tweaking to make sure you have pegged your target market as closely as humanly possible. After you do that, you’ll see your marketing dollars really start to pay off!
What is a target market exactly? I’m happy you asked! A target market can be defined as a group of people that share the same needs/wants/desires that your company aims to serve. Often times, these targets are the end-users of your product or service and with knowing this target market, you will be able to develop and execute marketing strategies that will be highly effective.
Here’s how you go about defining your target market:
- Know what you provide the customer.
What problem does your product or service solve? You must know this in order to move on.
- Describe your ideal customer.
Where do they live? What is their income level? What is their education level? Are they high maintenance? Do they have kids? Do they have pets? Do they own a home? Do they travel? Are they married? What’s their gender? What are their hobbies? Write down as much information as you can so that you can easily conjure up an idea of this person in your head.
- What happens if they don’t solve their problem?
If this ideal customer did not purchase your product or service, what would happen? Who would have the most at stake if they didn’t solve their problem? Who will benefit the most from your product/service? Come up with reasons why they can’t afford to NOT solve their problem. Once you do that, they’ll be buying!
- What can you offer that other businesses can’t?
Do you have an expert level of knowledge that your competitors can’t come close to? What is unique about your business that your customers can’t find at your competitors? Know what sets your business apart to your target market.
- Speaking of competitors…
Who are they? Research your competitors – not just their pricing, but what they offer, extra services they provide, etc. Know them inside and out. How are you able to position yourself and your business above theirs? How does your target market view you in the ranks of your competitors?
Knowing the answers to these questions and being able to accurately depict your target market will prove to be one of the most beneficial things you do as a business owner. After all, as I mentioned, you might as well be flushing your advertising dollars down the toilet if you are getting your message in front of the wrong crowd.
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