The question in this headline is often asked by start up companies, companies in a slump and companies and organizations that want to get to a new level of success.
If you ask yourself, who your target market is and your answer is, “everyone,” you have answered wrong. Companies cant afford or go broke trying to market to “everyone.” Those that target their marketing are most successful, but who is that target market.
Make an attempt at defining what you think your target is. Define who your ideal client would be. If you were starting in business today and you could do business with one perfect client, what would they look like? Describe or define specific, quantifiable facts about the target and about the ideal customer.
Quantifiable facts, if you are marketing business to consumer, might include, income level, educational level, age, geographical location, special interests or characteristics or more. In business to business targeting, specific target market criteria might include the types of business, revenue levels, number of employees, special focuses or other characteristics.
Whatever set of criteria or specifications you come up with for your ideal customer or target market definition, make that set as “tight” as possible. The definition with the most narrow target and tightest criteria will provide the most ideal target market. On top of that, there exists a list of whatever you can put specifications to and that list represents your market.
If you are still challenged by coming up with the set of specifications for your ideal target market, ask yourself, who benefits most from your products or services? Whoever that is, is representative of your target market. That is whom you should market to. That is whom you should sell to.
Still challenged with whom to market to? Take a look at your top customers; top 5, top 10 or some other top ranked list. Now decide what they have in common in terms of target market specifications like we talked about above. Here you will find common denominators that help to shape your ideal target. Go find more people or companies like them. That is whom you should market more to.
Once you have your definitions, your specifications and who you would like to market to, consult a direct mail expert. They can help secure a list of the criteria of companies or people that you come up with. Remember, your list is your market.
Once you have your list, start targeting it with your marketing frequently with fresh, relevant and interesting content and you will be on your way to doing more business with those that you want to do business with.