Before you can begin marketing your products or business, or
even start a business, you will need to know who you are marketing to. Who
are your customers?
There are a number of reasons that knowing your target
audience is important, including knowing how to tailor your message to resonate
with a specific audience and what marketing mediums would be the most effective
in reaching that group of consumers. Without knowing this little detail
before promoting your products or services, you’ll be missing out on reaching a
huge amount of people who would have been interested in what your company had
to offer.
Follow these 5 tips in order to discover what demographic
you should be trying to reach.
1. Take
a Look at Your Products
The first thing you need to do is take a look at what your
business has to offer to consumers. What problem would your products or
services provide a solution for? Who would benefit from your products or
services?
2. Do
Your Research
The next step in discovering your target market is doing
research on your industry and competitors. There are many resources available
through the Internet to make this search easy for you, but you should be able
to get a keen sense of what type of customer would be interested in your
business.
Information you should try to collect is demographic
info (income, education level, age, sex, and even location if it is a business
that may do better in one area than another), buying patterns, and any other
information that would be helpful in your search.
Most of this research has already been done for you, but if
you aren’t able to find all of the facts you are searching for, hiring a
marketing research firm may be the best way to get all of the data needed.
3.
Determine Your Customers’ Preferred Method of Media
Although 52% of businesses have found a customer through
Facebook, according to WebDam, the reality is that the same social media
websites will not work for everyone. Believe it or not, there are still plenty
of people who refuse to become a part of the social media scene, which may have
to do with your target market’s demographics.
After completing step 2, you should have the demographic
information needed to make the decision on how to sell your products or
services. For example, if you average customer is retired and in their 60’s,
there’s a good chance you won’t find them surfing their social media channels.
Knowing how to reach your customers will make a huge difference in how
effective you are at reaching them.
4.
Network
Knowing the right people can be a valuable tool to helping
your business grow. Find and meet the right people through trade shows and
other networking events, or by simply calling or stopping by local businesses
that are related to your industry.
5.
Analyze the Competition
Not only should you evaluate your competitors in order to
find out who their customer is and how they are selling their products or
services, you should also figure out what makes you different from them. What
do you have to offer that they don’t? While I highly suggest that you refrain
from copying any of their marketing ideas, knowing what they have done in the
past will give you some ideas.
Unfortunately, according to The Facts of Business Life by
Bill McBean, less than 30% of businesses last more than 10 years. The primary
reason for this is the owner doesn’t know how to plan for business success or
simply doesn’t know how to run a business.
The first thing every successful company must know is who
will buy their products. Knowing who your customer is and what they like will
make a huge difference in how well you promote your products or services to
them. Follow these 5 tips and you will be able to effectively market your
company.
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