Target Marketing

Target Audience

You specifically target customers who are most likely going to buy from you. Over saturating the market creates false hopes when your marketing is too general. Marketing to everyone is highly inefficient and costly.

Who is Your Target Market

Ask yourself these questions:

What problem does your product or service solve?
Who is most likely to have this problem? In what situations do they use it? This is where you start breaking down who you should be focusing on. Is it individuals? Businesses? Families? Be more specific about what pain points your product or service addresses and then who typically feels that pain.

Zeroing in On Your Target Market

Define your target market audience based on different characteristics. Which approach comes closest to exactly describing your perfect customer:

• Consumer or business – Start by clarifying if you have a B2B (business-to-business) or a B2C (business-to-consumer) offering.
• Geographic – Local companies may find that their most likely customers are within a three-mile radius of their store, or within a particular zip code. This target market is defined geographically, based on where they live or work or vacation or do business.
• Demographic – Define your target market in terms of their gender, age, income level, education level, marital status, or other aspect of their life.
• Generation – Which generation were they born in, such as baby boomers or Gen X.
• Stage in Life – Stage of life customers are in, whether it’s post-college, retirement, newly married, newly divorced, or parenting young children, for example.
• Behavioral – Frequency of use, or behavior, which could be a good choice for hair salons, car washes, or vacation rentals, etc.

Armed with a clear understanding of your target market(s), you can now begin to craft marketing messages that appeal to that particular group’s pain points and preferences.