Finding Your Target Audience « eCommerce and Marketing News & Tips

Finding Your Target Audience

Last week, we talked about the importance of finding a niche market to establish your small business in. Today, we will touch on why, and how, you have to find a target market to advertise to. This is more than creating a general idea of who might be interested. Instead, you will be narrowing down to a select group for each product, and sticking with that group until you have earned enough to expand.

What is a Target Audience?

A target audience is a specific group of people that you will be aiming to buy your product or service. They will all be within a specific age range, gender, generation, socioeconomic status, and have a very specific need. You can also base this target on cultural or religious factors, though these are usually less important, unless the product is directly related to those fields.

This trick is to narrow your focus to as small of a group as possible. The smaller the group, the more likely you are to establish yourself as their brand. If you caste your net too wide, you will actually end up losing yourself within the advertisements and marketing campaigns of larger, more established companies. You will also fail to create a spark of recognition, which goes back to the issue of branding.

How Do I Find My Target Audience?

This isn’t actually as tricky as it sounds. What you have to do is look honestly at what it is you are offering. Let’s say, for example, you sell shoes. The majority of your stock are stylized athletic shoes, in various colors, sometimes with added features like wheels. Are adults likely to buy these shoes? Probably not. Small children are also not likely to buy these shoes, nor are those in their mid to late teens. Your target audience would most likely be preteens and adolescents.

Next, you would look at any other factors that may be relevant. Are the shoes made more for boys or girls? Can they be marketed to an age range instead of a gender? If so, you can usually market it to both using simultaneous advertising, or by using examples to the gender specific items within the same brand. This is still reaching your target, without branching out too far.

Socioeconomic status is also important. Class systems will often factor in heavily to who it is you wilk be aiming for. Who usually buys this type of shoes? How much are you planning on charging? This will determine where you market your product, and how you make it visible to that particular market. The customer has to be able to relate to the need to have the shoes, and you have to provide that relation for them.

With all this in mind, you should be able to provide a solid marketing campaign that will allow you to target the right customer, and bring in the most sales without losing any customers on the fringes. More sales means more profit, which means expansion. That should be your ultimate goal, and only through a stable brand and client base will you get there.