Digital Marketing

How to determine your target markets

If you have children, know someone who does, or have ever bought a toy as a gift for a child, you probably know the age range that the company gives on the packaging to inform the customer for what age the toy is appropriate. . Toy companies have done it in some way. It’s easier for them to determine their target market based on good research before building the product and smart marketing that appeals to children while reassuring parents and adults that the toy is appropriate and safe.

However, for those in the tech field, determining your goal may not be that simple. Not everyone is going to fit into your target market, although there are many VARs who still believe that mass emails and broad marketing campaigns that are designed to encompass everyone are still the way to stimulate interest in their products and services. But, realistically, you’re not going after the sale of every IT person because one solution doesn’t fit all. Just because a large company has an unlimited budget (which is rare in these economic times) does not mean that it is going to spend those extra dollars on you. You cannot hope to attract a broad-based group because a twenty-something in the industry may have a very different perspective on a new trend than one in their fifties.

How do you develop campaigns and marketing programs that target specific audiences that are important to your business, instead of hitting “Send” to a paid email list of 50,000 new “potential” (but not yet qualified) customers? Part of your success rate with your marketing initiatives will actually be the result of how well you sell and market in each segment that you have determined is viable. In other words, simply capturing the sales of “some” of a specific market may be fine, but really in order to measure your marketing effectiveness within a particular group or demographic, you should be able to reach 100 percent of each specific market. So how can you determine those target markets, and then how do you know if you have the right matches for your business offerings? We’ll see:

– Know your exact goals. This is the hardest part of target marketing, actually correctly determining who you should be targeting. If you’re not sure where to look for customers or are having trouble closing the sale of leads and existing customers, those leads likely won’t fit into your specific target markets because they don’t need your products and services. Ultimately, you end up wasting time trying to get them to buy something they don’t need or want, rather than finding those real customers who really need you for what you have to offer. Take a look at your existing database (you should be doing this regularly by now). Look for common traits among active customers and group them accordingly. Voila – your target markets! Now think about where you can find new leads that fit into these categories. Finally, develop your marketing campaign based on the specific characteristics of each group.

– Try each segment. Now that you know who you want to approach, instead of jumping in first, test the waters. Talk to some of your most loyal customers and ask why they do business with you compared to your competition. Is it the 24 hour fast response you provide or perhaps the way you stay on top of the latest trends and innovations? Will they give you a testimonial to use in your marketing materials? By knowing what your top customers think in each target market, you can tailor your marketing campaigns around those ideas, attracting new leads within each demographic.

– Include buyer personas of your clients’ customers in your target markets. Selling to your customers is one thing, but showing them that you can provide end-to-end solutions is something else entirely. Including end-user demographics in your target market research will allow you to create marketing messages and ideas that show your customers that you understand your customers. Simply providing excellent service to your existing customers does not necessarily benefit your end user. Show your customer how your end user benefits will benefit you. If you can identify with the end user, your customer will connect with you much faster.

Effective target marketing requires dedicated thinking to your target customer. By carefully thinking about who you want to reach and why, and who would want to do business with you and why, you can create specific messages that will resonate with each group. Take the time to do your research. In the long run, you could reach hundreds more customers than if you didn’t.

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