Page 7 - THE NOTICEBOARD EDITION 63 OCTOBER 2020
P. 7

October, 2020                                                                                 Page 7

                How to Identify Your Target Market



                                           are  most  likely  to  buy  what  you   location, hobbies, and many other
                                                                                things.  For  example,  for  a
                                           sell. But how do you do go about
                                           identifying  that  target  market?   gardening  service,  one  type  of
                                           How can you tell who's most likely   target customer is people who live
                                           to buy? Here are seven steps that    in  neighborhoods  with  well-
                                           will help you identify the audience   manicured  lawns,  attractive
                                                                                plantings  and  colorful  flowers
                                           most  likely  to  require  your
                                           products and services.               around  their  homes.  Another
                                           1. Start with the problem            target for your marketing might be

              arget  marketing  is  a      A good way to determine who is       corporate clients who want their
                                                                                office  surroundings  landscaped.
              strategy that focuses your   likely to become your customer is    For a business that specializes in
       Tmarketing on individuals           to  clarify  the  problem  that  your   home security, the ideal customers
       and  businesses  who  are  most     product  or  service  addresses.  For   may be in a residential area that
       likely to buy from you or require   example, you run a housecleaning     have a high crime rate or who live
       your products or/and services.      service. The problem that you solve   in high-income residential areas.
       A target market can be defined      is doing cleaning for people who     Women  living  alone  who  worry
       as a specific group of consumers    cannot or do not want to do these    about  safety  may  be  another
       or  businesses  at  whom  you       jobs  themselves.  Upper  income     potential target for sales. Listing
       focus  your  marketing  efforts.                                         out  these  characteristics  allows
       The key to target marketing is                                           you  to  zero  in  on  your  target
       identifying  those  audiences                                            audience accurately.
       most likely to buy your products
                                                                                3. What is your primary market?
       a n d         s e r v i c e s .
                                                                                Many  products  and  services
                                                                                address the needs of a variety of
       Understanding how to identify                                            people  but  they  still  have  a
       that  target  market  correctly  is                                      primary  audience. These  are  the
       one of the most important things
                                                                                people who:
       you can do when you're starting                                          gain the most benefits
       a  business  or  launching  new
                                                                                have  the  greatest  need  for  these
       products  and  services.  When                                           services/products
       you have a good handle on who                                            have the ability to pay for them
       your target audience is, you can
                                                                                buy the biggest quantity of them
       not  only  create  a  product  that                                      on a regular basis
       better suits their needs, you can
                                                                                are located in a geographic area
       also craft better advertising and                                        your business services
       promotional  copy  to  capture                                           Knowing  who  makes  up  this
       their  interest  and  get  them  to
                                                                                primary audience should be your
       buy.                                families,  families  where  both  goal  when  you  are  trying  to
       Additionally,  you'll  get  better
                                           parents work, and older people who  identify  your  target  market.  For
       results  from  advertising  by
                                           no  longer  have  the  ability  to  do  example, for a bakery, the local
       targeting it at those people who
                                           their  own  housekeeping,  are  all
                                           target customers for your services.
                                           2.  Define  your  customer's
                                           characteristics
                                           Listing  out  the  characteristics  of
                                           your  typical  customer  is  another
                                           good step towards identifying your
                                           target market. These characteristics
                                           need not be personal ones; they can
                                           pertain to lifestyle, income earned,
                                           disposable  income,  geographical
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