Whether you are working within an industry or as an independent digital coach, it is important to know who your target market is and how to go about attracting them. An understanding of your target market will help narrow down the audience that you want to reach and lead those who would benefit from a relationship with you directly to you.

What is a target market?

A target market is a group of customers that a business has decided to focus its marketing efforts on. This group has been identified as being most likely to buy the company's products or services. The decision to choose a target market can help business owners sell more than one product or service.

Why does knowing your target market matter? Knowing your target market can give you the extra edge in bringing in sales or receiving referrals from a customer. You can also refine the design of your advertisement to include something that would appeal to your target market. This may be your value proposition, benefits of buying from you or even call to action.

What are the four types of target markets?

A company's target market is the group of people it plans to sell its products or services to. There are four types of target markets: individual consumer, business-to-business, government, and international. Consumer target markets are made up of individuals who buy products for personal use. Business-to-business target markets are made up of companies that buy products and services for use in their own businesses. Government target markets are made up of the country's public, who buy products and services to do things like open bank accounts or apply for government licenses. International target markets are made up of countries' populations. Each type of target market has its own reasons for using your products or services. For example, a business-to-business target market might need to use your product or service for administrative reasons; in this case, your products or services might work best for them. The specific target market will influence which products or services are best suited for that type of market.

Targeting a specific market | 6success.com

What are the benefits of targeting a specific market?

When businesses target a specific market, they are able to better understand the needs and wants of their customers. This allows them to create products and services that are tailored to meet those needs and wants. As a result, businesses that target a specific market typically enjoy higher customer loyalty and satisfaction rates. With limited resources and so much competition, it's better to target your marketing efforts. This makes it easier for small companies to compete, for innovators to disrupt the market, and for startups and other companies to get ahead. When a company focuses on its customers, it is far more likely to be successful. When a company has identified its specific target market and knows what to do with them, it will be far more successful in pleasing them.

Therefore, it is important to define your target market very well.

Develop your own target market | 6success.com

How do you develop your own target market?

Developing a target market involves studying your ideal customer and understanding their needs, wants, and behaviors. Once you know who your target market is, you can create marketing and sales strategies specifically for them. To establish your target market you need to do these followings.

Classify the target market: classify your target market by their demographics, where they live, their interests, and how they behave. (Geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral)

Pinpoint your unique selling proposition: Find out why customers should prefer your product over others and what makes your product different and special, compared to the others. This is what it’s called unique selling proposition - something that sets you apart and makes you stand out from the competition.

Study your customer data: To better understand your target market, take a look at your customer data and analyze it.

Study your competitor’s customers’ data: Analyzing your competitors' customer data can give you valuable insights into how to grow your own business. You can look at what their data and apply the same approach or change it to a better version and justify it to your startup and products.

Use a prototype or an MVP: It is a significant way to validate your assumptions about the target market by a prototype or an MVP. This approach helps your startup to get as much feedback as possible.

Analyze your target market | 6success.com

Target Market Analysis

For this you need to start to ask the five W’s of your potential customers to pick out the foremost useful target market for your business. (Who, what, where, when and why)

Analysis allows you to distinguish between profitable and non-profitable segments. After segmenting your market, choose the market segment that best suits your business if you meet the following features: Large enough, Still be growing, A few competitors, and product/service should meet market segment’s needs or desires.

Target Market Strategies

Target market strategies can be classified into four types based on the number of target markets a company/ startup chooses.

Mass marketing (undifferentiated marketing)

Mass marketing is a type of marketing that targets a large audience with a general message. Examples of mass marketing include newspaper and magazine advertising, radio and television ads, banners on the sides of buses and taxi cabs, billboards, corporate logos on store windows, and various other forms of signage and decals.

Segmented marketing (differentiated marketing)

Some companies sell the same product to different segments in different ways, while others manufacture different product lines to serve different market segments.

Market Targeting Strategies | 6success.com

Concentrated marketing or niche marketing

Concentrated marketing or niche marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on a specific market segment, rather than trying to appeal to a wide audience. In this type of marketing, the goal is to identify specific groups of people who share a similar interest and to develop products and services which are suitable for these groups.

Micromarketing

Micromarketing goes one step further than centralized marketing. In fact, micromarketing is targeted at specific groups (localized microsegments) or individuals within niche markets. This strategy is much targeted, as all marketing activities focus on the unique characteristics of these small groups or individuals.

Examples of Target Marketing | 6success.com

Target Marketing Examples

Coca-Cola Target Marketing case studies are incredibly effective, because they were able to target new groups of consumers who have never been interested in drinking soda before. By advertising Diet Coke, for example, Coca-Cola was able to target new generations of consumers.

"Coca-Cola chose a unique promotional strategy that recognized the marketing potential of the Hispanic community by offering diet drinks as an alternative to traditional sugary soft drinks. Consumers interested in these low-calorie drinks were unlikely to be regular soft drink drinkers and would probably not be attracted to standard brand names such as Coke.

Coca-Cola also used all three of these P's: packaging, promotions, and product placement in movies to target an entirely new audience of young people.

In this case study, we will be discussing McDonald's and how they use target marketing to their advantage. McDonald's is a prime example of a company that uses market segmentation to create a specific target market and then designs its marketing efforts to appeal to that group. The fast food giant has been using this strategy for years, and it has paid off big time. McDonald's is a global powerhouse when it comes to the fast food industry. McDonald's targets students, employees, and professionals aged 8 to 45, from low and middle-income families, with a laid back and carefree demeanor.

Target Market vs Target Audience

A company's target market is the group of people that the company plans to sell its products or services to. The goal of a company's target market is to identify who their potential customers are. The main reason for doing this is to build their business relationship. It is crucial for a company to understand their target market and how to develop strategies that will ensure them success. The target market may be defined according to the gender, age, income and career of the people that the company plans to appeal to. However, the specific and well-defined segment targeted by the advertisements of the product is known as the target audience.

What is a Target Market?