Introduction:
Having a target market is the most important marketing decision you'll make for your business. It can help define your marketing strategy and guide all of your marketing activity. In this blog post, we will discuss 7 quick tips to help you figure out what kind of people are in your target market so that you can start marketing to them!
Personify your product or brand
One of my favorite strategies for defining a target market is to thing if my brand was a person who would it be? What does the brand look like as a person and what does it do? There was a great commercial back in the late 2000s for Apple Computers where they had Macintosh and PC personified as people who were arguing with each other about which computer was better. It's a great way to think of your target market because it gives you an idea of what kind of people are usually interested in purchasing the product or brand that you offer.
Think like Sherlock Holmes! Use your data.
Another marketing strategy is to examine your sales, marketing materials and even customer service interactions to figure out who your target market is. What type of language are they using? Are there any marketing materials that stand out to you as being more effective than others or attracting a specific kind of person? Is there a certain demographic or age group that is purchasing your product or interacting with your ads? These are all important marketing strategies for determining what kind of person is in your target market.
Look at the competition to see who they're marketing to
One easy way for you to figure out who is in your target market and how many people there are, is by looking at a competitor's marketing materials or website traffic sources/landing pages on their website. This marketing strategy will give you an idea of who they think their target market is, and what kind of people are entering that marketing funnel (it's also a good way to get ideas for your own marketing materials!).
Communicate with the customers in your target market
You can always ask them! Don't be afraid to reach out to your customers to ask them who they are and what marketing materials, language or offers work for them. You can also survey people in the target market that you think would be interested in your product or use of new marketing strategies (but make sure it's a representative sample).
Use social media marketing to figure out what kind of person is talking about your brand
Social media marketing is an incredible tool for marketing your product or service to the right people. You can use social media marketing to follow what kind of language that they are using, which marketing materials are catching their attention and even track where in the world they're talking about you from! There's all kinds of great data out there on who is talking about you and what marketing materials are catching their attention that can help you figure out who your target market is.
Define your niche
The marketing strategy of defining your niche can be a little simpler than you think. I like to define my target market by their needs and how they're trying to solve them (this is also known as identifying the pain points in people's lives). When you understand what problem someone has, it makes it easier for marketing campaigns and materials to resonate with them.
For example, let's take marketing to women entrepreneurs who are trying to build their business while juggling the demands of being a mom. What marketing messages and materials would resonate with them?
Highlight differences between you and your competition
Maybe your target audience is the same as your direct competitors,but maybe your target market is slightly different. It is important to understand these key differences between your brand and the competition to better understand who you're marketing to and how your marketing materials should be tailored to them.
Conclusion:
You’ve likely heard it before, but your target market is the most important marketing decision you will make for your business. It can help define what kind of content to create, where to advertise and how to craft a message that resonates with them. Figuring out who they are may sound like an impossible task at first glance, but don't worry! We've compiled 7 quick tips below that should be able to get you started on figuring out this key component in any good marketing strategy. So take notes as we dive into these ideas!
