Are you considering mass distributing that direct mail piece you’ve created? Or maybe sending out an email blast to the 5,000 random consumer email addresses that you just purchased? Going into your marketing campaigns with the mindset that your business is a perfect fit for every consumer can wind up being a huge mistake. The secret to achieving the greatest results in your marketing campaign is taking the time to understand who your target market is before developing your marketing plan.
You don’t want to rush right into your marketing without taking the necessary steps, it will return low response rates and not to mention waste significant amounts of money. Understanding who to market to that is most relevant to your product or service will help you in creating highly-targeted marketing campaigns. Ultimately giving you the response you are looking for.
A number of benefits come with creating highly-targeted marketing campaigns, they can help you to increase brand loyalty among customers as well win consumers business over competitors. After going through the targeting process you will discover that those most relevant to your business are the consumers who will become your most loyal customers. Your targeting is important because in order for it to be effective it is all about communicating the right message to the right group.
We have compiled a list of important questions to stop and ask yourself when determining exactly what type of consumer you want to target. After you have answered these questions you should have a good picture of who your target consumers will be. Focus strictly on this group of people in designing your next marketing campaign and you will see how much more effective and cost efficient it will be.
#1 What are the demographics of the consumer that would be most likely to use your product or service?
There are many ways to determine what demographic to target your marketing efforts towards. You must ask yourself if there is a specific age range or gender your product or service is best fit for. For instance you could be selling a product that only applies to women, over the age of 40, who have young children. There are many demographics you can target based on and is a great starting point for identifying your target market.
#2 What location are you looking to target?
The geographic location of the consumers you want to target is also crucial to understand. There are a variety of ways to target based on location,first determine what distance from your business is still accessible for who you are targeting. Do you have geographic limitations? Are you targeting nationally or just locally? You can target many ways and get as specific as you see fit based on state, city, and zip code ranges. You should understand that distance plays an important role in buyers purchasing decisions, keep your marketing targeted to those people who are within a reasonable proximity to your business.
#3 What are the psychographics of the consumer who would be most likely to use your product or service?
Psychographics include factors such as consumer interests, their lifestyles and even their purchasing behaviors. It’s important to have a good idea of what the daily life is like for the consumer you are targeting. An example of this is if you were a vitamin and supplement retailer looking for consumers whose behaviors and lifestyle could benefit from your products. You would want to focus on targeting those with healthy lifestyles and interests. This could include consumers who participate in active activities everyday such as running and going to the gym.
#4 What does your current customer database show?
If you have a current database of customer information you can leverage this to help determine who your best customers are and their qualities. Look to find characteristics of your current customers that stand out, are there any qualities that they all have in common? Is it a specific demographic or maybe a lifestyle interest that stands out? Using your current consumer database you can pinpoint these qualities and use this information to your advantage in targeting more consumers that are essentially “clones” of these customers.
#5 What benefits can your product or service provide to consumers?
What are you able to provide to consumers that benefits them and will make them choose you over competitors. Are these benefits bettering their life by making their lives simpler or helping them to save money? Determine what you have to offer that sets you apart from competitors as well as the consumers that will in turn benefit from your unique offerings.
Being able to effectively narrow in on your target market is paramount before executing your marketing campaign. You want to be able to send the right marketing message to the group of consumers that is most relevant. Businesses who are able to pinpoint their ideal consumer to base their marketing campaigns around will see dramatic cuts in costs. By narrowing in on a targeted group your saving money and seeing a greater return on your investment. Take control of your future campaigns and take the time to do the research to be able to have the answers to these 5 important questions.
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