Have you ever started planning your market research and then realized that you don't know which target market you need to be studying to get your desired results? Yes, me too! Whether you’re a startup or an accomplished company, asking the wrong people the right questions will always end up with a flawed analysis. So let's start with the basics!
What is a target market?
A target market is a group of people who are potential customers and the base of your market research analysis. These are the people who will give you the information you need to move forward with your new product or service.
Why should you have a target market?
Any business, no matter how big or small cannot market to anyone and everyone and it definitely should not. Not only will they be wasting their time but also a huge sum of money. A target market will help them have a defined audience to study and get the right feedback, queries, and perspectives of their product or service.
What is the difference between a target market and a target audience?
A target market is a group of people that a business wants to sell its product or service. On the contrary, a target audience is a much narrower group of people who are expected to buy the product or service. In simpler terms, a broad group of potential customers is a target market, whereas a smaller, specific group of people in the target audience.
Here are a few tips for you to find your ideal target market -
The first step to finding your ideal target market is breaking it down into different demographic segments. This will give you a basic idea of who your customers are, what their day-to-day tasks are, etc. Some of the factors you can take into account are:
These factors will help you determine on a large scale who your target market can be and if they would like to buy your product or service. This is the market that creates a huge impact when you put out advertisements on your product or service.
Once you have a basic audience, let's narrow it down! It’s not enough to know who is buying your product but also why they are buying your product because let's face it if your consumer doesn't require your product or service, what is the point of projecting a study on them? Here are some psychographic factors to consider:
These factors will give you a deeper insight into your target market’s lifestyle and their need for your product or service daily. Immersing in your target market’s purchasing motivation & other psychographic factors will reveal trends and common aspects in their nature, interests, and attitudes.
Multiple businesses set up their market in specific locations. In other words, they may not be available anywhere and everywhere. It is important to consider these locations when conducting a study unless your business is trying to expand and increase its reach to new consumers.
Always recheck and evaluate your target market. Even though you have segmented your market based on age, gender, occupation, personalities, etc, they must fulfill the criteria of your research. Will they be able to afford your product? What platform or forms of advertising would help you reach them? Do you know what will drive them to buy your product? Ask these questions and make sure you have a decent as well as contrasting sample size for your research.
If you are an accomplished brand, look into your existing customers. Your existing consumers are the perfect audience to conduct a study on as they are already a part of your consumer base, meet your criteria and give you a good idea of how your market should look. Reach out to them from your social media handles, emailers and ask them for feedback or issues while using your product or service.
Your competitor’s target market is a great way to find out who they are targeting and whether they have missed out on particular areas that you could take advantage of. Another thing you could do is look at how your competitors are communicating with their audience and engaging with them which could help you get inspiration for your own product or services and how you could stand out in the market.
There you go! These are a few tips and tricks that will help you narrow down and find the right target market to study. After gathering all the information you need about your potential customers, make the necessary changes or improvements to your product or service, making it more appealing to them. The information you gather from your analysis will also help you create an effective marketing strategy and the right communication for your campaigns.
Reach out to our research experts to know more about how you can create the right market research strategy for your business!