Target marketing can be defined in several ways. As an illustration, the simplest way to think about reaching your target market is to picture a target. With that said, where’s the most ideal place to hit the target? Would you say, around the edges, close to the middle, or direct center, of course, Square in the middle…..Bullseye!!!
Who Is My Target Market?
Yeah! this may seem obvious but for many small business owners, their goal is to yell at everyone breathing. We call this throwing Stuff against the wall hoping, wishing, and praying something will stick.
Continue to settle in as we explain the best way to increase sales and attract new customers, In particular how to aim directly to your focus market. In this case, those who best resonates with your product or service. Remember, when you talk to everyone you talk to no one.
A study showed when screaming for help. If a person screams someone help!… everybody will look around for someone to help. But if they singled-out one person. It’s more than likely, that one person will help.
Back to the above example, the bullseye scenario, the closer you get to the center of the bullseye, the better your chances of marketing to your intended market. The process of targeting saves time, money, and resources. Moreover, the right directed message can drastically increase profits and decrease wasted marketing efforts.
How to Identify Your Target Market?
Continue reading as we unrobed the hidden gems of target marketing. We’ll break down marketing segmentation, how to determine your target audience, and explain the benefits of finding your persona. With that, we’ll sprinkle a few other marketing tips. Within minutes you’ll be on your way to becoming a target marketing ninja!
Are you ready to double your marketing IQ … let’s dive in!
- Who’s in the center of your dartboard?
- How do they look?
- What are their likes and dislikes?
Your job is to find out as much as possible about your customers or potential clients. The more you know… the more you grow!
Example: Let’s say, you’re a restaurant owner who specializes in fine dining. You serve exotic foods and drinks. In this case, chances are you probably wouldn’t place door hangers in a low-income housing community. Mainly, because they aren’t your ideal customer. Secondly, they can’t afford your services and probably won’t like your food.
In view of that approach, a better idea is to conduct a little marketing research. With this in mind, to find your perfect customers there are a few simple ways to start. In fact, you can start with a few guesses: such as:
What else does your ideal customer enjoy?
Do they have hobbies, if so what kind I.e golf or tennis
Are they affluent
Educated
Socially and culturally diverse
Or enjoy travel, for starts
5 Creative Ways to Snuff-out Your Selected Market
- Spy on your competitor’s business, check out their customers.
- Take notice of your competition surrounding establishments
- Take a survey either online or in-person
- Read restaurant magazines, see examples of your ideal client.
- Talk with friends and family. Ask questions about their food likes and dislikes, income level, spending habits, how frequently they eat out, and types of food they prefer.
How to Use Market Segmentation
Another component to target marketing is called marketing segmentation. Segmenting is one way to differentiate your existing customers into different categories. Notably, this technique identifies your existing customer’s spending habits and behavior. In other words, your current customer’s footprints leave strong patterns and clues. For sure, groups of customers will prefer one service over the other.
Further on, this information can also be used for specials, product selections, coupon ideas, promotions and give always and many others.
As the above example expresses, the process of market segmentation will save time and money. Also, it reduces the chances of sending incorrect marketing messages which gives you a better ROI across all marketing channels.
Case in point, just think how embarrassing would it be to send a vegetarian customer, a pull-pork Monday special coupon? Or in contrast, to send a meat lover a vegetarian coupon. Certainly, by separating your customers, you’re concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments. This consists of customers whose needs and desires most closely match that product or service offerings.
Market Targeting Example
Another example: Say you’re the owner of a corporate catering company. Instead of broadcasting a generic radio blast to anyone at an ear’s distance. Conversely, a better advertising budget-friendly method is to advertise B2B (Business-to-Business). Streamline your advertising efforts on the radio or direct mail to local business owners, targeted businesses, and entrepreneurs.
All in all, this will increase your ROI. Don’t forget Facebook business owners. This would most definitely increase your ROI (Return on Investment) by targeting more of your ideal customers.
With that in mind, ideally, social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, ,Twitter and Instagram, have sophisticated options to allow businesses to target users based on market segments.
For example, a bed-and-breakfast business would target married Facebook followers with an ad for a romantic weekend getaway package.
Moreover, LinkedIn, on the other hand, is more B2B oriented, so you can target businesses using a variety of criteria. Such as the number of employees, industry, geographic location, and so on.
3 Common Types of Target Segmentation
Did you know, demographic segmentation is the most important criterion for identifying your markets. A demographic type is a qualitative factor. Those details are based on measurable statistics such as gender, age, income level, marital status, education, race, and religion. For example, a lawn care service may want to focus its marketing efforts on a subdivision. Particularly, that is inhabited by a high percentage of older residents or high-income earners.
In fact, those types of identifying statistics are vital before making marketing decisions. Not only that but marketing incorrectly to your clients is like throwing money out of the window or like marketing wine to a baby.
Geographic Segmentation
The second most popular way to segment is Geographic segmentation. This was covered earlier in the low-income housing community example. However, geographic segmentation also involves segmenting the market based on home address, neighborhood, postal or ZIP code, area code, city, province or state, region, or country.
Segmenting geographically relies on the notion that groups of consumers in a geographic area may have a specific product or service need. As an example, there’s a company online that sells potato guns. The owners live in the Midwest. From my understanding, the business is very profitable. Their product probably isn’t as popular in metropolitan areas; therefore, they should focus efforts in the Midwest.
Psychographic Segmentation
The third type of segmenting is Psychographic segmentation. This type of market segmentation divides the customers based on socioeconomic class or lifestyle preferences. The socioeconomic scale ranges from the affluent to the highly educated at the top of the range. Then to the uneducated and unskilled at the bottom. A great example of psychographic segmentation of affluent consumers is those purchasers of designer brands, Gucci and Chanel, who buy expensive luxury cars and million-dollar houses.
Categories of Social Classes UK-based National Readership Survey:
| Social Grade | Social Status | Occupation |
| A | Upper class | Higher managerial, administrative, or professional |
| B | Middle class | Intermediate managerial, administrative, or professional |
| C1 | Lower middle class | Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial, administrative, or professional |
| C2 | Skilled working class | Skilled manual labor |
| D | Working-class | Semi- and unskilled manual labor |
| E | Subsistence class | Unemployed, seasonal, or casual |
Next, let’s talk a little about marketing by lifestyle preferences. The lifestyle preferences classification involves values, beliefs, interests, and the like. Examples of lifestyle preferences are pet lovers vs non-pet lovers. suburban lifestyle versus country living; green living and so on. Psychographic segmentation is based on the premise that the choices people make when purchasing goods and services reflect their lifestyle preferences or socioeconomic class.
Target Marketing Concept: Case Study: McDonald’s
McDonald’s has one of the most defined demographic target marketing success strategies than any other company. First off, their initial products were designed and marketed to children, teenagers, and young urban-dwelling families. Explicitly, the Golden Arch is excitedly recognized by small children. As well as Mickey D’s Play Place, parties, and toys were all created to ensure a marketing edge to their ideal customer.
According to QSR Magazine 2017, a change is and has taken place. Millennials are surpassing baby boomers. This changed has forced McDonald’s to do an about-face.
Since 2016, McDonald’s sales have declined. This decrease demanded a market research analysis to investigate what the problems or issues were. Further, the research uncovered a new interest in the town. That newcomer is called healthy eating. On the positive, the millennials are requesting healthier choices, WIFI, upscale drinks, and desserts while watching their children play.
Conclusion: Target marketing is imperative for effective advertising. Without a doubt, it’s a sure-fire way to out-market your competition, save money, and streamline marketing endeavors. Incorporating the three marketing segmentation factors will bring greater returns.
So, before spending a mint on social media marketing ads, radio, newspapers, or any other paid marketing medium, do your marketing research.
Your goal is to speak as succinctly as possible to those that best match your products and services. Selecting your market is key to a massively, successful, income-generating marketing campaign!
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