How Well Do You Know Your Target Market?

I’ve been beating the marketing drum pretty hard lately because I see a lot of great companies that could be even greater if they out more resources into basic marketing practices (read more about Marketing 101 here). At the heart of any marketing effort is knowing your target market, something I touched briefly on in my last blog about how to determine a marketing budget. Like most marketing tactics, identifying your audience doesn’t have to cost thousands or require you to get a second degree.

Why it matters
I’ve had clients tell me their target audience is “anyone interested in our product/service.” Not only is this mentality too general, but it’s simply not realistic. I’m going to assume you have limited marketing dollars (really, who doesn’t?), which is why targeting your best, most likely customers – as opposed to “anyone” – is so important. You won’t see an Under Armor ad in the AARP magazine, which shows no one can afford to target everyone. Plus, target marketing allows the little guys to go up against the brand behemoths.

Know Your Current Customers
Between omni channel and the Internet of Things, we can know more about customers than ever before. I challenge you to roll up your sleeves and really dig into your customer data. Leave your assumptions at home, and be prepared for your best customers to not be who you thought they were, or perhaps who they used to be. Once you have a 360-degree view of these customers – their common interests and characteristics – you can find more like them, or develop new products and services to further help and delight them.

Know Your Product/Service
It’s vital to be able to view your product/service in terms of its benefits. I like to ask clients, “What problem are you solving?” Getting to the heart of this question is where you will find your target market sweet spot. This question will help you get away from marketing to “anyone,” and instead focus on only those people with the problem your product solves.

KNOW Your Competitors
When is the last time you did any research on your market landscape and competitors? Market share and trending? Do you know where you sit by way of price comparison? Feature set competitiveness? Do some research into who’s buying from your competitors. Who are they targeting and why? Who are they missing? You may discover some niches.

Once you have done all of this, you can build a marketing strategy that is targeted to those people who are most likely to buy (and buy again) your product or service. Do some further research into how and where to reach your target customers. What websites do they frequent? Do they read certain magazines? Is there a professional association they are members of? Don’t be shy to ask your current customers some of these questions, as well. Where/how did they initially find you?

The better you understand your target market, the better you can make your marketing dollars work for you. If you have any questions about how to do this, I’d love to chat with you.