People buy for their reasons,
not yours.
~Orvel Ray Wilson
Introduction to Target Markets
As we have learned, every successful business must deliver value. However, that is just the beginning. Next, the business must identify which groups of people benefit from this value. These groups are called the businesses' target markets. In this unit, we will cover how to find the perfect target markets for your business.
Key Questions
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What do you want your target audience to do?
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What demographic groups are most likely to take this action?
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How do they think?
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What needs, challenges, and frustrations do they have?
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How does your idea, service, or product help this audience?
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What drives them to make purchasing decisions?
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Do they currently use (or support) a product or service of your company or a company similar to yours?
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What media do they currently use?
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How can you best reach your target audience?
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Are you confident you picked the right target audience?
Questions taken from https://topnonprofits.com/know-your-target-audience-questions/
Your Customers are Your Friends
Video: Get to Know Your Target Market
Everyone is different. Let's spend time figuring out how they're similar.
Video: Your Customers & Their Problems
I got 99 problems, how will you fix one?
10 Questions About Your Target Market
Let's take a stab at answering the questions from the previous strip.
How Should I Segment my Market?
Now that we've taken some time to try to get into the minds of our customers, we should take a moment to consider how we can separate customers into different, meaningful groups!
Open the PowerPoint to learn more.
Good Ways to Group Your Customers
Building the Customer Profile
The better that you can visualize your customer, the better you will be able to serve that customer. This is why companies develop customer profiles. By completing the 10 Questions Activity (from earlier in this unit), you should have a better idea of how your target customers behave and think. By reading the Segmentation PowerPoint, you should have a better understanding of how to group your customers into meaningful, actionable segments.
Now it is time to put it all together. Below are two activities to complete, which can be plugged directly into your business plan and action plan. You can use your responses from the 10 Questions Activity, your Benefits Ladders, and your Design Mix Elements to help you complete these activities.
Business Plan Takeaway 1:
Your Target Market Segments
Business Plan Takeaway 2:
Your Customer Profiles
