Targeting Your Market
Imagine practicing archery with your eyes closedor throwing a football with a blindfold on. In both cases, being prevented from seeingyour target would make it nearly impossible to hit it. This concept can easily be appliedto business, as well. Doing business without knowing what your target market is willprevent you from reaching your objectives: increased sales, market share or brandawareness.
Where the blanket approach of mass marketing wastouted by marketing professionals of years past, today's industry experts are singing thepraises of one-to-one, or relationship marketing. And rightfully so. Today's consumers, asyou've heard many times, are savvier than ever before. With access to nearly any piece ofinformation they want via the Internet, consumers don't want salespeople spouting offscripted presentations. Rather, they need advocates who are willing to help them find realsolutions. How can you do that? By learning who your customers are; by finding out theirreal needs; and by offering them tailored products and services that work for them. Thefirst step in attaining those lofty goals is to choose a customer base that is appropriatefor your business.
- Identify Potential Customers
- Conducting Market Research
- Choosing a Target Market
- Compiling a Customer Profile
- Resources
I. Identify Potential Customers
There are two types of customer groups that you can target: individual consumers or other businesses. Individual consumers are somewhat more difficult to target because they are diverse and unpredictable, they typically have small individual budgets, and their buying preferences may change as they age. Businesses as a target market tend to be fairly stable over time and have large budgets to spend on various products and services.
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