Download Identifying your target market

Identifying your
target market
Do you know who your target market is? By working out who
your target market is you can focus your marketing efforts on
the most profitable segment/s of your market: the people who
are most likely to buy from you.
When you know who you’re talking to, you’ll know
how to get your message across. So strategically
identifying your target market not only saves you
time, money and effort, it also helps you
understand your potential customer better and
personalise your marketing material to generate
more sales.
When thinking about your target market, be as
specific as possible. Ask yourself the following
questions:
Clearly identifying your
target market will help
you decide where to
commit marketing
resources and what kinds
of promotional methods
and messages to use.
What are you selling?
Clearly articulate what product or service you are offering. Is your product
something that would be purchased on impulse or after a lot of research?
Who wants it?
Think about your existing customers – who are they? Firstly, look at the
demographics:
> Gender
> Age
> Families or singles
> Occupation – white collar? Blue collar?
> Location – where do they live?
Now consider who else might be interested in your product? Who would you like
to see using your services?
What is important to your target market?
Now that you’ve identified what kinds of customers you want to attract, think
about how they prioritise their purchasing decisions. Are they interested in value
for money, quality, budget, design, expertise, speedy delivery? Every customer
wants something different.
For more information call 1300 650 620, email [email protected] or visit hia.com.au
© Housing Industry Association DECEMBER 2013
What’s the best way to reach your target audience?
Once you have a good idea of who your target audience is, you can use the
information to help plan how, when and where you will market your business.
Remember, the ultimate goal of all marketing is to “get the right message to the
right person at the right time”.
There are many different ways you can promote your business – but you need to
find the method most likely to reach your potential customers.
Different mediums for targeted marketing
> Letter-box drops – can be effective if you target a suburb that aligns with your
target demographic.
> Local newspaper – many people still look for products and services in the
classified section of their local newspaper.
> Getting involved in industry events and awards – effective if your target
market is other businesses.
> Facebook – Facebook now has a function called ‘Targeting’ which enables you
to target your posts by gender, relationship status, education, location etc. This
means you can put up posts that will reach the correct people within your
readership. Customer database mailouts/emails – great for ‘call to action’
marketing such as promotions and special deals.
Online or offline?
Online marketing refers to promoting your services on the internet. As offline
marketing is more costly due to the physical cost of printing, postage etc, be sure
your offline marketing efforts are to a highly-targeted, active audience. Also be
sure your advertising stands out, has impact and most importantly a call to
action.
Think outside the box
Think about where your target market spend time, and focus your marketing at
these locations.
Make the most of search engines
There’s no doubt that Google has become a game-changer in marketing. It’s
often the first place people look when they’re researching products or services.
So your website needs to be easy to find. Think about what types of words and
phrases your target market would use to search for your product or services on
Google? Make sure those same words are included on your
website and social media pages.
Special offers and promotions
Knowing who your target market is, and what appeals to
them specifically, will enable you to design effective specials,
deals and promotional packages. These can be helpful in
converting ‘nearly-there’ customers into purchasers.
Would you like more tips on identifying your target market?
Take a look at A Guide to Identifying your Target Market.
A GUIDE TO
IDENTIFYING YOUR
TARGET MARKET
SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION SERIES
December 2013 Edition
© Housing Industry Association
For more information call 1300 650 620, email [email protected] or visit hia.com.au
© Housing Industry Association DECEMBER 2013