One of the most crucial steps to making a business profitable is to determine and correctly target the audience. Once the target audience is defined, it becomes much easier to determine what marketing tactics to use.
- The first step to finding your target market is to look at your business plan. Reviewing the goals and services outlined in the plan help determine who will benefit most from your services and whether selling to that group will help you reach your goals.
- The next step is to define the geographic region to which you are providing your product/service. If you are selling to a specific area, your target audience will include people from that area. A 5- to 7-mile radius around your business is a good starting point.
- Building a demographic profile gives you the basic characteristics of your audience. Some of the many aspects of a demographic profile are as follows:
- Age
- Gender
- Income Level
- Occupation
- Location
- To go even deeper into understanding your audience, utilizing psychographics can be extremely helpful. “Psychographics” is the study of personality, values, lifestyles, etc. Understanding these aspects of your audience gives you a much clearer picture of how to craft appropriate content aimed towards them. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What kind of lifestyle do your customers lead? Where does your product/service fit into it?
- What activities are they interested in?
- What are their likes and dislikes?
- What do they like most about your product/service?
- When do they use it? How do they use it?
- After you have gathered as much information as possible about who your business will be targeting, you must determine what media to use. Whether you use print media, social media, or a combination of both will depend upon your target audience, although using both is usually the best option to target the most consumers.
Centering the marketing of your product/service around a target audience makes them more likely to buy or use it because it is specifically catered to their interests and lifestyles. Developing a unique strategy of marketing is what will set you apart from your competitors and draw in more customers.
Sources
Quickbooks.intuit.com/r/marketing/essential-marketing-tips-how-to-find-your-target-market/
http://marketingland.com/ultimate-beginners-guide-defining-target-audience-90625