How to Define A Target Market in 5 Steps
Who is your target market for your business' product or service? If you're trying to sell to everybody, you might want to rethink your marketing strategy. While it might seem like marketing to a wide audience will get you more sales, this is rarely the case. Narrowing down your target audience — and then marketing in a way that's relevant to them — is a much better strategy to growing your business. Here are five questions you can ask yourself to narrow down your target market.
1. What kind of solution am I offering?
People buy things to solve their problems. The nature of these problems can vary widely. Not all problems are practical - for instance, some people buy expensive cars to solve their perceived problem of not looking cool enough. Every business offers a solution to some kind of problem, practical or not.
Think about how you make customers' lives easier or provide them what they want. Why do people seek out your product or service? How are their lives better after hiring you or purchasing from you? In short, what kind of value do you provide?
2. Who needs the solutions I offer?
Of course, not everybody has the same problems. While there are a few problems, like keeping in touch with loved ones or getting from place to place, that almost everyone deals with, chances are that your product or service deals with a more niche type of problem.
Ask yourself who could benefit from the solutions you offer. Get as specific as you can. Are business people most likely to need your services? Teenagers? Busy parents? Once you have a general idea of who makes up your target audience, you can start narrowing your focus even more.
3. What are the demographics of my target audience?
Age, gender, and socioeconomic status are all important things to know about your target audience. The better you can pin down your market's demographic factors, the more effectively you'll be able to advertise to them. Is the average person who needs your services a man or a woman? How old are they? What's their family life like? People from different demographic groups respond differently to advertisements, so it's important to answer this question accurately.
4. What does my target audience need and want?
Don't stop at figuring out your target market's basic demographic information. Visualize your ideal customer and get into their head even more. Go beyond the basics. What do they want most in life? What are they afraid of? What do they want to achieve in the next ten years? If you can tap into your target audience's emotions and thoughts, you'll have all the information you need to build a branding and marketing strategy that gets you results.
5. What is my unique selling proposition?
To successfully convert leads into customers, it isn't enough just to solve a problem. You've also got to solve it differently or better than your competitors do. Take a look at businesses similar to yours, and figure out what makes you stand out from them. This is your unique selling proposition, or USP. After you've nailed down your USP, you can use it to further narrow down the pool of potential leads and hone your marketing strategy even more.
If you want to advertise more efficiently, create products that sell better, and turn leads into conversions, take a few minutes to think about who you're trying to convert. Defining your target market is an essential step as a business owner. Once you put in the effort, you'll find yourself with a better brand and more happy customers.
