“Defining your target market” is the main element you should think about thoroughly when setting your business plan. Why? It is the key to your business success. How is that? It helps you get customers, which means… profit.
Identifying and finding your target audience is the hardest part of any business plan, but when figured out things get much easier, especially when it comes to marketing. Knowing your target audience will help you save money and get a better return on investments.
So, The first thing you should put in mind when setting your business plan, whether you have just started your business or you’re looking to revamp your marketing efforts, is that your target market is not “everyone”, you simply cannot sell your product/ service to everyone in the world. Instead, you should address a specific group of people, most likely to be interested in your product/service, which makes them consumers.
In this article, we will help you know who are those people and how can you identify them so that you can determine where and how to market your company/service or product.
How to Define Your Target Market?
As a start narrow your potential customer base to a defined demographic group. Use surveys, questionnaires, or secondary research to gather your demographic data, and understand your potential customers and their needs in order to make better marketing decisions.
Then, define the age range, gender, educational level, occupation, and income level of the individual most likely to be your customer.
After defining these elements, take into consideration the psychographics of your targets, such as their personality, attitudes, values, interests, hobbies, lifestyle, and behavior.
If you already have a business and an existing customer base, it is beneficial to check out your competitors and have a look at their websites, social media pages, and ads in order to understand their market strategy.
Through this whole procedure, it is very important to understand your product features and benefits, to be able to determine what motivates potential consumers to purchase your products. In other words, you should be able to show your target market how your service/product will benefit them and improve their daily lives.
Finally, identifying your target market will affect the product’s design, packaging, price, promotion, and distribution. That is why you should keep in mind two main points: you don’t have to please everyone, and the right target market increases your chances of success.
