12 ways to determine Target Market, to attack Niche

“Know why you are different and how you can help a Customer, recognise your Target Market, then give them something they might not even realise they are missing.”

Target Market Topics: Solving Problems, Demographics, Define your & Competitor’s Customers, Market Research, Cost, now Target.

Finding your Target Market is very important if you’re trying to sell a product or service, or read your content online. Having a good understanding of who your Target Market is, will help you develop new products and market your business more effectively. If you run any kind of business, start doing some simple research on your customers & competitors to help you narrow down your Target Market right away.

1.Think about what problems your product or service solves. If you want people to buy your product or service, you need to make sure it will it solve their problem.

The problems you identify can be anything at all, as long as you believe there are enough people who have the problem to support your business
Try to be as specific as possible when identifying the problem/s your product solves. Identifying an overly broad problem will not be very helpful. You can start with this broad problem, then narrow it down to a specific niche.

2. Define who your current Customers are. The best way to start learning more about who would want to buy your products is to find out who is already buying them. You can use this information to help target other people who have similar interests or who fall into similar demographic groups.

3. Demographics. Make a list of your “potential” Customer’s characteristics. Once you understand what kinds of problems your product solves, you can start thinking about what kind of person might have these problems. List as many characteristics that your ideal customer would have as you can think of. Try to be as specific as possible.

establish a Rewards Program that requires the submission of personal information in order to learn more about your current customers. Rewards programs also allow you to track customers’ purchases, which will help you understand what kinds of products a specific kind of customer is most attracted to.
If you have a Website (& you definitely should), Google Analytics can tell you a lot about the people who are currently visiting your site. Many Social Media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, & YouTube, also have “insights” or “analytics” that provide information about demographics and interests. The manufacturer of a product can also likely provide customer demographics.

4. Find out who your Competitors’ Customers are. It will show you if a certain competitor has been more successful at attracting a specific type of customer than you have.You can learn some basic information about your competitors’ customers by looking at their Social Media accounts and viewing the profiles and/or comments of people who follow them. Some will even show you the most common age group of followers.

5. Complete your Customer’s Profile. Once you have answered the questions about your business and conducted your market research, you can finish compiling a complete profile of your ideal customer. If you have multiple products or services, you may have a different ideal customer for each. Your profile should include a combination of demographic information, which will help you understand the socio-economic status of your customers, and psycho-graphic information, which provides insights into the personalities of your customers.

Important demographic information may include age, racial/ethnic background, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, income, number of children, & location.
Important psycho-graphic information may include hobbies, interests, beliefs, religion, lifestyle, & technology preferences.

6. Consider your Competition’s offerings. Think about what other businesses offer similar products or services as yours and how you can differentiate yourself from them

Once you identify your competitors, do some research on them. Your goal is to identify problems that potential customers might have that are not being solved by your competitors.
It is okay if you are not the only business offering a solution to a particular problem, but you should try to differentiate yourself as much as possible. Make sure your products or services are uniquely identifiable in some way. Use what you have learned to outdo your competition. This may mean offering a greater selection of items, higher quality items, lower prices, and/or easy returns. “Better, Faster, Cheaper”

7. Perform your own Research. If you’ve already done a ton of Online research and observed your current customers, you may feel like you need some input from real people. It is possible to conduct this kind of research on your own, although you might want to consider hiring a professional firm if you are unsure about how to recruit good participants or interpret the data – if you can afford them.

8. Review existing Market Research. There is a ton of market research that has already been done and that can be very helpful to your business. Try searching online for market research, target markets, or customer profiles in your specific industry. The data might not be exactly what you would have collected if you had done it yourself, but it will provide useful insights none-the-less.

Ask existing customers to complete Surveys, (ie, online). You can include questions about their demographics and interests, about the their perceptions of your product, and about what services or products they would like you to offer.
You can also try conducting Focus Groups if you want to get more detailed information about how a specific group of people feels about your product or service.

9. How does your Cost compare? Compare your cost to other similar products available to your potential customers. If you have not established your pricing yet, you should use this research to set an appropriate price.

If your product is more expensive than other products, you will need to make it clear to your customers why it is a better value for them.
You will also need to think about what kind of person would be willing to pay for your product and whether your customers will think of your product as a necessity or a luxury item

10. Target your Market where they spend time. Once you have your Customer Profile, you can do some Online research to determine what kinds of habits this kind of individual might have. Knowing their habits will help you make smart decisions about where and how to market your services.

You should try to find out if your target market prefers to shop online or in a store; how much time they spend on the internet, watching television, reading magazines, & listening to the radio; + what specific sites, channels, & publications they prefer.
You can use Social Media Analytics services such as FollowerWonk to help you learn more about the habits of your target audience. If you find that a large proportion of your target market is fans of a specific company, you may be able to use some of those ideas for how to market to them.
You can also do your own research to get answers to these questions. This may be especially helpful if you need to know the habits of a specific group in your local area. Take care to recruit a group of participants who are representative of your target market.

11. Market to your Customer’s Values. When you have a good understanding of your target market, you should be able to create Marketing Campaigns that will resonate with your Customer. Always consult their profile whenever you are creating a new campaign and ask yourself how it relates to what you already know about your Target Market. from WikiHow.com 9/17

12. Send out Tailored Promotions. If you understand your target market and are diligent about collecting data from customers, you can use this information to divide your customers into different niches and make sure they always get information about your product/service that is relevant to them. You may also use this information to develop new products or services to cater to other niches you have identified.

Comment: Any other ways to determine Target Market?

from WikiHow.com 9/17 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

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