Do You Know Your Target Market

[KristineS]

I've seen it over and over again, someone comes on a forum and asks what marketing techniques work best. They've tried print ads, they've tried web ads, they've tried sponsorships and direct mail and giving away product and nothing seems to work.

The first question I always ask these people is if they know who their target market is and where to find those people. If you don't know that, all your advertising efforts are just scattershot and may not hit the target they need to hit.

All of us here are working to promote ourselves and our businesses, and we need the most value for every advertising dollar. Given that, we all should be able to answer this question:

Who is your target market and where are they hiding?

[orion_joel]

Defining a target market is something that i have always struggled with in my business. Unfortunetly not due to the fact that there is not many potential target markets that i could target. But because i cannot define which area of the market i want to focus on.

This probably has come to be due to the primary products that i sell are consumable products that are used by a very large percentage of people, and almost every business. While i understand the fact that my targeting a single market i can better prepare myself for a specific range of customer's my thinking almost always leads me to but what about the other people they will need my product as well. It is really just getting out of this mindset i think.

[KristineS]

There are some businesses that have a universal product or one that applies to several different markets. In that case, narrowing things down will be a bit harder.

I just feel bad for the small business people who are spending money on advertising and they don't even know who they're trying to reach. As a result they waste a lot of time and effort and money talking to people who don't want or need their product. Then they wonder why sales aren't going up.

A little thought and planning can solve a lot of that problem.

[ErinWrites]

Sometimes this question can't be answered by thought and planning.
Sometimes, a business owner is still in the discovery phase of their
fledgling business and is still figuring that out.

I think coming to a forum to bounce ideas off of other business owners
is actually a great way to brainstorm some possible approaches. Then,
targeting various groups and seeing which one "sticks".

Personally, my background is in traditional ad-agency copywriting. I've
worked on big accounts like McDonald's and Toyota at LA ad firms.

Once I went freelance, I thought surely my target work be per-project gigs
at these same agencies. But those jobs were few and far between (as the
market was already saturated with writers servicing this niche). I still do
some work for these firms, but not as much as I used to.

Turns out, servicing small-to-mid-sized business works a lot better for me!
I don't know how it happened. Just gradually, over time, more and more
client calls were from small businesses, or referrals from other small
business clients. I surely didn't set out to be a marketing asset for small
businesses...but the more I did it, and the more they found me, we just
clicked!

So I'd cut the businesses who post here without knowing their target a little
slack. Honestly, IMO it's like dating: you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find
your business' prince charming. You can plan and strategize to a point,
but there's always the "black box" factor of chemistry at play. And posting
to a sb forum is like getting dating advice from friends as you navigate the
waters.

But once you finally click with the people you're truly meant to service....
ahhh, it's mahvelous, dahling!

:-) - E

[KristineS]

I agree with you Erin, to some extent.

I know a lot of people will post here looking for advice or direction. That's great and I know we can be a lot of help. The problem is that some people try a bunch of marketing programs first and then try to figure out where they should be advertising and who their target market is.

I guess my point is ask the questions and do the research first. You may not always get an accurate answer, but at least you'll be a little more on target than you might otherwise be and you won't be wasting your effort and your money. It makes me sad to hear about people who didn't have a lot of funds to start with and wasted their money on advertising programs that didn't reach their target market, when a little bit of research might have corrected the whole problem.

[vangogh]

I think it depends on the question. Kristine I know the ones you're talking about where someone is looking for everyone to tell them that a specific magazine works best or that they need to be in the phone book, when it really depends on their market. At the same time I understand Erin's point too. In the beginning I wasn't really sure who my market was.

When I first started I thought well anyone who wants a website is my market. That's not specific enough, but at the time I didn't know how to define it further. Joel I think this is where you might be having problems. Just because everyone might use your product or service it doesn't mean that everyone is your market.

Over time I learned better who I enjoy working with and who finds my services more useful. I pay attention to what my clients tell me so I can understand what they see as my strengths. Then I can promote myself better based on my strengths as my unique selling proposition.

One other thing I do is pay attention to markets in general. For example say you find a community somewhere online (forum, social media site, etc) where the people are generally in your market. If you participate in that community with the idea of getting to know people and understanding what they want and what's lacking in the products they buy you can then create a product that isn't lacking.

@Joel - I know you sell technical services to people as one of your services. You offer:


A full range of general computer repair and maintenance services for desktop computer is available.

That's very general. What if instead you specifically offered services only around the idea of keeping computers virus free. You remove them, set up anti-virus software, etc. True it eliminates some potential customers who might only need you to install a wireless router for them, but it focuses you in on a more specifc and targeted market. That focus should help you spend better on advertising, set up more efficient processes to reduce costs, etc.

I'm not suggesting you should go after the virus market by the way. It's just an example. But the idea is you can more easily stand out to a smaller market than you can to the larger market so you actually end up being more visible to more people despite having cut down how many potential people you could appeal to.

Some of it is about thinking and defining your market based on what you can offer and what you can learn about a market. Some it also just about understanding yourself better and some is about listening to what your current customers are telling you.

In general small businesses will do better to focus on a more specific market than to go after the general market. Once you've captured one small market you can expand into others and grow.

[Ad-Vice_Man]

I'm with you Vangogh, I think there's definately a difference though between not necessarily knowing who the target market is and making the assumption that the target market is "Everyone".

I can't tell you how many business owners (small and midsized mind you) that when we started working together insisted that they were trying to reach EVERYONE. I contend that even in those VERY rare instances where literally every human on the planet could use and afford to buy your product or service. That intentionally limiting or "targeting" your message to the best opportunity, the most profitable or whatever segment. is going to be far more effective than the scatter and pray method.

Even in Erin's Case. She targeting the ad-agency clientelle. But discovered that her opportunity was with small/mid size businesses and the ADJUSTED her target.

There's an old adage... "When you try to be everything to everyone, you end up not being anything to anyone"

[vangogh]

It took me longer to realize that than it should have. I think for many the temptation is to see everyone as your market since the idea seems to make it easier to succeed. If everyone wants your product/service and even a very small percentage chooses you then you'll do well.

The reality is you can't appeal to everyone so you get very close to 0% of them. Once you can focus on a more targeted market you can stand out better to that market by tailoring your product/service to them. There's less overall people in your market, but it gives you the opportunity to convert a lot more than 0% of them.

[Aaron Hats]

Our target market is very broad. We have the young teen/20 something looking for the latest fashions as well as older men and women looking for a hat style that's been made longer than I've been alive. A few years ago when I first met with a SCORE counselor he asked if I was a destination store or impulse buying. We are both. Because we're in a tourist town many people will simply walk the village going into every shop then we have customers who will drive 2-3 hours just to come and buy a hat.

If you have a head, we have a hat for you.

[Ad-Vice_Man]

Aaron,

I imagine though that you target you advertising messages to Tourists differently than you do to the teen/20s than you do to the "older men and women"

[vangogh]

I was thinking the same thing. Your demographics might be broad, but you still have an appeal to a smaller subset of people. You've mentioned tourists often. That's a different market than local even if you sell to the local population too.

Being in New Hampshire also refines your market. Your personality and the personality of your store are different than if you were in New York or L.A.

[KristineS]

There may be an image ad that would universally appeal to all hat buyers, but I'm guessing you do a lot of product specific ads. You would have to advertise ladies' sun hats differently than you would advertise a men's fedora. So even though your store in general appeals to a large group, the hats in it would generally only appeal to specific demographics.

While your main buyer group is "people who like and wear hats" it really breaks down into a lot of smaller groups depending on the hat people like and wear.

[Aaron Hats]

Aaron,

I imagine though that you target you advertising messages to Tourists differently than you do to the teen/20s than you do to the "older men and women"

Let's just say that I'm lacking in that area. We're also thinking about changing our logo because the hat used in the logo could send the message "men's hats only". On Friday, I met with a local web/marketing company about helping us build our brand so I'm anxious to hear their feedback this week.

[Ad-Vice_Man]

Aaron,

These are some people I respect on the topic of brand development... Every marketing company is not capable of this. Just an FYI

Nasuti+Hinkle brand development (http://nasuti.com/branddevelopment.html)