Who is Your Target Market?

Who has a need for your business? Who has expressed interest or bought from you in the past? And where do these people hang out? Understanding who your market is and where to find them will save you valuable time and money. Narrow your market by age, gender, ethnicity, industry, or type of service to create a market profile. Then find out where these people spend their time – do they like to surf the Internet, are they into social media, do they enjoy thumbing through catalogs, or do they spend time watching television?

Once you understand where your markets spend their time, create a marketing campaign to run in these spots. For example, many people 18-34 enjoy receiving email updates about their favorite brands and spending time browsing social media websites. Focus your marketing efforts to encourage these people to sign up to receive email updates and create a social media page filled with promotions and other information about your business.

Get to Know Your Market

Stereotypes exist for a reason – in some cases these stereotypes can provide information about your market (younger generation = more technological for the most part), but you need to know more before you launch your campaign. Using the profile you created, learn more about your markets by visiting the same websites, forums, and blog sites. Sign up to receive newsletters from businesses targeting similar markets. Read industry articles and studies to give you a deeper perspective.

You can also create a short survey for your site to learn even more.

Use a Variety of Marketing Methods

In most cases, you have a variety of marketing methods to choose from depending on the group. Direct mail via brochures and post cards, online marketing, email marketing, social marketing, and radio and television promotion all help you reach target markets. You don’ have to limit yourself to one method – just focus on the ones that will get you the best results.