Do you have an idea for a new product or service? Are you launching a small business that you hope will stand out from the competition? To be successful, you need to know your target market. Not knowing your target market can cause your business to suffer in several key areas. There is simply no shortcut to knowing the profile of your typical customer.
A target market is the consumers of a broader audience that your company wants to reach. These customers share common characteristics. Things like demographics, psychographics or buying behavior for example. There are many others as well types of target markets that must be taken into account.
The characteristics they share make them more likely to be interested in what you have to sell. Identifying and then understanding your target audience is vital to achieving success.
Not convinced? Here are some of the reasons why knowing your target market is important.
It helps you understand the customer’s needs
What will persuade customers to buy your product or service? What will keep them coming back to your business after making their first sale? It is their needs or wants that will cause this. Understanding your target audience helps you better understand their needs and preferences.
This allows you to tailor your products or services to meet their specific requirements. This increases the chances of customer satisfaction and loyalty. By focusing on their needs, you can foster a strong connection between your brand and your customers. Hopefully, these efforts will lead to long-term relationships and repeat business.
Everyone has different needs. A customer’s personality also affects how they shop. Here are some examples of positive things a customer might say when a company meets their needs:
- choice: I can choose home delivery, home delivery or curbside delivery.
- Customer service: The employees here are friendly.
- facility: This product makes my life easier.
- familiarity: I’m more familiar with this store than the new place in town.
- sustainability: I care about the planet, and so does this company.
- time: This product is saving me time.
- value: The prices here help me save money.
It helps reduce marketing costs
All companies want to increase profits, but reducing costs is just as important. Knowing your target market can help you avoid spending money on unnecessary marketing costs. It is estimated that $37 billion is wasted on marketing every year due to ads that don’t appeal to the target audience.
One of the reasons for identifying your target market is to know who is most likely to buy your product. What is their gender, age and income level? What is a typical day like for this person? Does this person listen to the radio or watch television? Which social media platform is this person most likely to use?
Maybe your target market is young women who spend a lot of time on TikTok or Instagram. They use social media to find feedback on new beauty products. Time spent on these social media channels can quickly turn into a sale.
What if you skip the step of finding this information? You might make some costly mistakes. Trying to reach this target customer with radio or television marketing would be a waste. So, identify your target market first so you can find out where your potential customers spend their time and don’t waste your money.
Saves time
Similar to saving money, knowing your target market will save you time. It takes time to develop effective marketing to reach your customers. The needs of a 20-year-old college student will be different from those of a 40-year-old suburban parent. Do you know which customer is your target customer? Knowing whether your prospect has disposable income, children, or a full-time job will help you create marketing focused on what matters to the customer.
Save time and narrow the field. Know who your company’s target market is. The more specific you are, the more you can serve the people most likely to become your customers.
Once you’ve identified the type of customer most likely to buy your product, you can market to it and focus your efforts on acquiring those customers.
Knowing your audience helps product development
Once you have established who your target market is, you should be more aware of the needs of your regular customer. By knowing your audience’s demographics, preferences, and problems, you can create products or services that directly address their needs and wants.
This not only increases the likelihood of your product’s success, but also allows you to remain competitive within your industry. Additionally, understanding your target market can help you identify potential opportunities for expansion or diversification, driving the growth of your business. Some things you might think about include:
- What do my customers need?
- what do they want
- Can I create new products that enhance our existing product offerings?
- What new products can I create to make my customers’ lives easier?
- Are there additional features we can offer that make things more convenient for customers to save them time and money, or to give them more than they already want?
- What are customers saying about our brand and how can we respond to what they want or don’t want from us?
It helps you decide which marketing channel is best
Knowing your target market is essential to creating a winning marketing strategy. It is essential to know WHO who you’re selling to so you can find those customers quickly, efficiently and profitably. By discovering where your target customers are most active, you can focus your marketing efforts and resources there. For example, if you run a business-to-business business, you might focus on marketing on LinkedIn and perhaps Facebook. However, if you have a lifestyle brand. And one that arguably markets best on a visual platform, Instagram should be a good choice.
This ensures that your messages resonate with the right audience, leading to higher engagement, conversions and overall return on investment. Consider all the different ways you can choose to market your brand:
- tv
- radio
- direct mail
- coupons
- Customer references
- word of mouth
Customers are bombarded with ads, so you need to choose the option that your target customer is most likely to be affiliated with. If you choose TV, you need to advertise on the station that your target customer watches. If you choose incorrectly, you’ve lost money.
And that’s not all! In the world of social media, there are numerous options:
- Tik Tok
- And more
Which social media option will you choose? Choose carefully so you can target your paid ads to the marketing channel where your customers are most likely to spend time.
Some companies even choose not to advertise. They simply let the brand’s existence and customer experience do the advertising for them. This strategy is usually for higher priced brands. Ferrari is a brand known for not advertising on TV. Not sold to the masses.
conclusion
Getting the attention of a potential customer is not easy. It takes time to determine your target market. And, there are several types of target markets over there. However, knowing your target market is essential to creating an effective marketing strategy. Once you know your target market, you will be equipped to market your product or business against your competitors.
Read also:
How to find the target market for a coffee shop
Staff Writer: Erin Shelby is a writer and blogger based in Ohio. Follow her on Twitter @ByErinShelby
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Item tags:
featured · Find Your Way · Grow Your Business · Marketing · Sales · Your Mindset
Article categories:
Find Your Way · Grow Your Business · Marketing · Sales · Your Mindset
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At Ikaroa, we understand the importance of knowing your target market. It’s essential for companies to have a deep understanding of their target market, as it hugely affects the success and effectiveness of their business strategies.
Having a precise and well-defined target market consists of more than just being aware of the age, gender or location of potential customers. Companies must not only know their target market, but also gain insight into their behaviour and preferences, such as what motivates them and what drives them to make purchasing decisions. This helps to ensure that your product or service satisfies their needs and wants.
Knowing your target market also influences how you market your product or service. It helps you tailor advertisements and content that matches the demographic you are targeting. Knowing who and where to target makes it more efficient to reach the right people and persuade them to buy from you.
In addition to narrowcasting your message, targeting your market allows you to focus on the most relevant customers for the best return on investment (ROI). You’re diverting resources to where you’re likely to have the most impact and achieving the highest levels of success.
Finally, by leveraging the data that you’ve ultimately gathered to know your target market – and staying informed on their behaviour – you’re better equipped to stay competitive. With this understanding, you’re more informed on what’s happening in the market and you can adjust your messaging accordingly.
At Ikaroa, we firmly believe that understanding your target market is essential to the success of any business. We assist our customers with insights into their target market and how to ensure that their messaging is precisely tailored to what the customer is looking for.
