Evaluating Your Target Market

As a marketing coach for many clients I am generally setting them up with a marketing plan to help improve their business. Before creating that special marketing plan that will take your company to the next level you need to know who you will be marketing to and why. Many of the answers I get from clients are to everyone, or the Southern Ontario area. That my friends is too broad an area to market to and will bring you little results.

You must know your market inside and out and the best way to do that is to look into your records to find out who hired you for your services before? If you are spending time marketing to large corporations and all the people hiring you are Ma and Pop businesses your marketing efforts are being wasted. Now before you think that you have hit the nail on the head, I want you to think even deeper into your brain and think about who you talked to originally to get the job, and how you came into contact with them? These are all pieces of the marketing plan that need to be part of how you contact your clients. Personalize it as much as possible and you will have a marketing plan that works for you. If you are dealing with older people in the wilderness having a terrific online marketing strategy will not help you.

Your target market profile should look like this as an example; My target market is Judy, she is 27, enjoys spending money on herself, has a good job, and is comfortable buying on the internet. She looks for deals online to help her shopping experience and likes to keep abreast of the latest fashions.

The more you know your client the better off you will be at reaching your target market. The example above is comfortable with buying online so she would be a good fit for online promotions. If your clients are not online shoppers it is okay even these days to still send them information by mail. Many of us get too hung up on being online and not focused enough on just contacting our clients. Getting it wrong can cost you big time in both money and time so work at perfecting that piece of the puzzle.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant. He helps small businesses strengthen their marketing plans to achieve financial success. Information on Bruce can be found on his website at www.outridge.ca