What is a Target Market?
A target market is a group of people that a business identifies as potential customers. It is the marketing strategy of focusing advertising and other efforts on consumers that are likely to purchase a company’s product or service. Understanding a target market is a key component of successful marketing, as it helps inform which messages to create and deliver in order to ensure that the company’s offering resonates with a specific audience.
How to Pick a Target Market
Securing success for any business begins with determining who their target market is. Here are some tips for identifying and selecting the right target market:
- Understand Your Business and Objectives: Before engaging in any marketing efforts, it is important to understand who your business is and what it offers. This will ensure that you can properly identify appropriate target markets that will be interested in the company’s products or services.
- Define Your Ideal Customer Profile: Develop a customer profile or persona to help you determine who is most likely to purchase from and engage with your business. Consider factors such as demographics, interests, lifestyle, and geography.
- Identify Your Competition’s Target Market: Analyzing the competition’s customer base can provide valuable insights into the potential buyers of your own product. Looking at the profile of active customers can be a helpful starting point for the development of your own target market.
Target Market Template
Using the following template can be helpful for creating a comprehensive target market profile:
- Demographic Information: Age, gender, income level, education level, occupation, marital status, ethnicity, etc.
- Geographic Information: Location, behaviors, preferences, needs, wants, etc.
- Psychographic Information: Values, interests, lifestyle, hobbies, opinions, etc.
- Behavioral Information: Product involvement, past purchase history, brand loyalty, purchase timing, decision makers, media usage, etc.
By taking time to understand and properly define your target market, you will be well-prepared to make informed decisions regarding your product offering, marketing, and other initiatives. Once you determine who your customers are, you can design campaigns and ads that speak to their needs and interests directly. Doing so will help ensure that your company is reaching the right set of people who are more likely to become customers.
