The current state of the economy has shown that a well-defined target market is more important than ever. You cannot afford to target everyone. The secret to effective competition as a small business owner is by doing what is called niche marketing.
It shocks me to hear many companies claim to target “anyone interested in their services”. Some say they are targeting small business owners, CEOs, marketers, etc. While all these may seem as though they are specific as regards the people they are offering their services to, it would rather be of interest to you that selling to small business owners, CEOs, etc. is a generic form of marketing.
A more specific approach to marketing to a target audience is to clearly state the kinds of small business owners or CEO you offer your service to rather than just CEOs. It has been proven as regards business that it is not everybody that is your client neither can your product or service be of interest to everyone. Thus, you, as a business owner, must practice niche marketing if you want an effective and tangible result as regards sales and closing.
It is important to understand that targeting a specific market doesn’t mean you exclude people who don’t meet your criteria. On the other hand, targeted marketing/niche marketing allows you to focus your marketing investments and branding message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you than other markets.
Targeted Marketing/niche marketing is a much more affordable and efficient way to reach potential customers and generate more revenue. With a clearly defined target audience, it is much easier to determine where and how to market your business. To help you achieve your desired result and help you generate more income for your business, I will be sharing with you 3 practical steps to targeting and focusing on your target audience. Let’s jump on it.
1. Analyze your product/service
If you already have a product or service you render, (well you do as long as you are in business already), your first step to identifying your target audience is to analyze your product/service. What product/service do you render? What problem is it targeted to solve? What does it contain? What would someone need to do to get your product or gain access to your service?
List each feature of your product or service. Next to each feature, list the benefits it provides (and the benefits of those benefits). After you have done that, ask yourself some series of questions as regards those who require that service.For example, let’s say you are a content writer.
The feature of your service is that you write compelling content while the benefit of your service is that your compelling content brings in traffic to your client’s website. After knowing this, the question right now is who are those in need of your service? Your answer could go as thus, “To those who have a website”. While this is not a specific answer, it gives you a starting point as regards identifying your target market.After you might have analyzed your product, the next thing required of you is
2. Analyze those who need your services
What is the age of your demographic? Is it a child, teenager, or adult? You wouldn’t want to market a product to a child that is most suitable for an adult.What is the gender of your audience? Is it male or female? It doesn’t sound right to sell a male product to a female?
How much does your potential customer earn? You cannot market a luxury product to clients on a budget hence you need to determine what your customers can and cannot afford, and that way you can better market to them. Are they divorced, married, widowed, or separated? What is their marital status? This also needs to be considered especially if your product is marital status based. When can they afford this? What is their level of education? Is your product for the illiterate? College students? High school students? University undergraduate? Graduates? PhD holders? What ethnic group are they from? This is also important if your product is ethnic-based.
Also, consider the psychological characteristics of your customers:
Their attitudes Their values Their interests and hobbiesTheir lifestyle Their behaviour
If you already have an existing customer base, you must survey your current customer base. Who are your current customers and why are they buying from you? Look for common characteristics and interests. Which of them brings the most business? Likely, other people with the same characteristics could also benefit from your product/service.Finding answers to these questions would help you to identify who your ideal market is.
3. Focus on your target market
Where does your ideal market hang out? What are their biggest frustration and challenge? What are their hopes, dreams, and desires? What is their motivation?What makes them happy?What words do they use?What is their preferred mode of communicationWhat do they go to for information?Why should they get your product instead of your competitors’?
All these questions can be answered by making intentional research through magazine articles, blog articles that talk about your target market and engaging in blogs and forums where people in your target market communicate their opinionsYou can also create a survey to be carried out by your pre-existing customers. Identifying and focusing on a specific market helps you to save more money and get more ROI on every dime spent on ads.
Take your time to carefully identify who your audience is and focus on making them your focus and priority when marketing. Saskia Gregory said, “defining your target market is the simple most important decision you can make as an entrepreneur.”This is the only way to dominate your industry and beat your competitors.