Who is Your Target Market?

“Target market” (TM for short) typically means the group of people who are MOST LIKELY TO BUY your products or services, in other words the group of people who have the HIGHEST DEMAND for what you offer.

For example, if you sell anti-wrinkle cream, the people who are most likely to buy it are adults over age 40, possibly more women than men. So, your time and marketing dollars may be best spent on targeting women over 40. Or you could alternate your promotional campaigns between men and women, or target both groups at the same time.

To help you decide, you could take a survey of men and women over 40 to find out what percentage of each group uses anti-wrinkle cream or would consider buying it. You could also further segment your target market, as people over 40, women over 40, and men over 40 are still very large groups of people.

Another way to decide who to target is to consider both who has a high demand for what you want to offer and WHO YOU WANT to target.

For example, if you are a Financial Advisor, there are many demographics you could target, and some may have as much demand as the others; but, maybe you want to target a specific demographic because you tend to have a lot in common with those people and hence can easily have conversations with them, which leads to building the “know, like and trust” required to convert them into clients.

For example, if you play hockey regularly, the other players could be a demographic you choose to target. You wouldn’t even have to do much other than be yourself and when others ask what you do, you tell them, and it grows from there.

Or, maybe you want to target a certain demographic because you could make more money per new client, which would increase your overall income and bring you more lucrative referrals. When I was a financial advisor, 8 years ago, there was a manager in my office who targeted only doctors and dentists. There are a lot fewer doctors and dentists than individuals in other demographics, like parents of small children or business owners, so when considering demand in terms of the number of potential clients, the niche he chose has a lower demand for his services, but, he chose this strategy because he could make more per client, and thus didn’t have to work as hard as other advisors that targeted less wealthy individuals.

No matter which method you use to define your TM, it’s important to REFLECT and EVALUATE the progress of your business based on the TM you choose and other factors and determine if you want to CONTINUE to target that demographic or MAKE CHANGES.

For example, there are many demographics of home buyer and seller you could target if you are a Realtor, and maybe you start out your career helping primarily first-time homebuyers as you are a new homebuyer yourself. Then, over time you decide that people in your age group are starting to invest in rental properties, so you want to switch your focus to homeowners who want to invest in real estate.

Why define a target market? Why not target everyone who may have a need or desire for what you offer?

There are a limited number of hours in a day and dollars in the bank to promote your products or services and to serve clients, so it’s more cost effective and time and energy efficient to focus on one group or maybe 2 groups max.

How does your TM affect your business activities?

It affects two of the main ways you get clients.

1. Advertising – Putting content out to the world and hope they come to you.
2. Outreach – Passive and active – starting conversations with others. Examples: sending social media requests, personalized messages and emails; making phone calls, attending networking events, attending social events and asking people directly or being in the right places where others are likely to ask you what you do.
   
   

For advertising, your TM would affect:

• IMAGES you include in your graphics
• WORDS you use to catch the reader’s attention and bring them closer to becoming your client.
• Advertising METHODS, e.g. Social media, search engine, mailouts, billboards, bus stop signs, appearance on morning TV shows, phone calls, door knocking, etc.
• LOCATIONS you target. E.g. if you are a massage therapist, you would want to target individuals and companies within a 15 minute radius from your clinic or your home, if that’s where you provide your services.
• Other factors

For outreach, TM would affect where and how you physically SPEND YOUR TIME

• In the case of the anti-wrinkle cream, you may want to join some social groups where there are a lot of women over age 40 (outreach) or attend many women’s only business networking events (outreach); and in your ads or posts uses images of women who look like they are over 40, putting on the cream, or a before and after pictures (advertising).
• In the case of the Financial Advisor above, you could join a golf and country club, yacht club, or expensive gym and get to know the members. They will inevitably ask what you do, so you would tell them in a casual way with no appearance of looking to sell to them. As they get to know, like and trust you, some may become your clients (outreach). You could also make visits to doctors and dentists office with a gift and a note, hoping to catch them then or hoping they will accept your phone call because you gave them a nice gift with a note (outreach). In your ads or social media posts, you could use images of health care professionals shaking the hand of a Financial Advisor who looks like you or something else to signify that you work with that demographic (advertising). Of course, the words would also indicate your TM.