Ironically enough, when it comes to
promoting themselves, many businesses jump straight into marketing and forget
to really think about the most important part of marketing: their target
market. This is a real problem because knowing exactly who you’re targeting
with your marketing is the key to successfully reaching, connecting with
and convincing them to buy what you’re selling. So, while it’s tempting to jump
right into building your marketing campaigns and putting together creative, it
always pays to stop and think about your target market first.
Who am I targeting? - Whether you’re a new business or a decades-old
company putting together a new ad campaign, you should always be asking
yourself “who am I targeting?” Even if you sell products with broad appeal,
this question is still important. Specifics sell and the more specifics you
know about the market you are targeting, the more effective your
marketing will be. The more clearly and precisely you can answer the question
“who am I targeting?” the more focused and effective your marketing will be.
Obviously, you have to balance market size with market specificity,
but understanding that who you are targeting and what motivates them is the key
to create compelling marketing campaigns.
How current customers use my products? - Even people
who use your product or service for the same thing may use it for different
reasons or in different ways. For example, if you offer invoicing software, you
may have some customers who use it for every client and transaction, while
others only use it for certain clients or situations. Segmenting your
current customer base by how they use your product or service can give you a
lot of insight into your target market(s). Odds are, if your current customers
love your business for a particular reason, potential customers who are
motivated by the same things will be likely to respond to marketing
that focuses on that same issue.
What am I trying to sell? - This might seem like an obvious
part of any marketing campaign, but when it comes to defining your target
market, knowing what you are trying to sell is important, especially
if you’re changing what you are selling. Many businesses try to use old
marketing tactics to sell a new product and then wonder why their results are
bad. Whether you’re trying to market something new or simply get more sales for
a particular product or service, it’s important to think about who your new
target market is. Different products and services appeal to different
audiences, so even small tweaks to what you’re selling can have big effects on
how well your marketing works.
What is the competition doing? - You can also learn a
lot from the competition—both about what to do and what not
to do. You can clearly see that this business is targeting
high-intensity people who probably lead high-intensity, busy lifestyles. To
appeal to this market, their ad copy is high energy and focused on the
flexibility of their offering. If you happen to be a competitor of
theirs, there’s a lot you can learn from this. On the one hand, if you want to
target the same market, you can look for keywords or phrases they are using to
try and catch the attention of their target audience. Alternatively, if
you want to differentiate yourself and try to target an alternative market, you
could try focusing on price, a different exercise option or offering lower-key
classes that might appeal to less intense potential customers.
Is my target market niche or non-existent? - One final
thing to keep in mind as you identify your target market is the size of that
market. The narrower your target market is, the easier it is to create
specific, highly targeted messaging for them. Given the massive
reach of online advertising platforms like Facebook and Google, this isn’t a
common problem, but it is something to keep in mind as you define your target
market(s). If you find yourself struggling to effectively target the market
you’ve selected, you may need to take a step back and expand your audience a
bit.
While
it can be easy to assume you know who your target market is and what they want,
taking the time to really think about what you’re selling, who you’re selling
it to and how to best sell it can significantly improve your marketing results.
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