3 Tips for Dialing In Your Target Market When You Don’t Fall In That Category

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Market Analysis and Competitive Positioning Assessment (45-slide PowerPoint presentation). A Market Analysis and Competitive Positioning Assessment is a comprehensive evaluation tool designed to analyze market dynamics, identify competitive standings, and uncover strategic insights for business growth and positioning. This assessment delves into the intricacies of market trends, [read more]

Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy's Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.

* * * *

In general, people go with what they know. It can be hard to relate or understand something if you’ve never experienced it. And while marketing a business requires the skill of thinking outside yourself, it’s often easier said than done. However, in order to find success, you’ve got to be able to understand your target market even if you’re not included in that demographic. So to help make this way of thinking easier, here are three tips for dialing in your target market.

Ask The Right Questions

Marketing materials tend to be most effective when they can speak to the target audience on multiple levels. The problem with this is that you’ve got to be able to know and use those multiple levels. You’ve got to know what type of blogs your audience wants, what type of ads create the largest impact, and where they spend most of their time. And according to Sarita Harbour, this means knowing the right answers to the right questions.

Some of the questions you should be asking in order to narrow down your target market include what their demographics are, where they can be found, what their concerns and worries are, and how your business can address those pain points. Once you know the answers to these questions, you should start seeing a more dialed in target market to work with.

Use Data To Make Decisions

To find the answers to these questions, you’ve got to do more than just make inferences and assumptions. The very best information you can gather will require you to use data in order to collect confident answers. Chuck Cohn, a contributor to Forbes.com, recommends obtaining data through surveys, looking at your own metrics, and synthesizing existing data. All this information should come together to give you a greater view of the numbers behind your target market.

Create A Clear Description

Once you have all the facts and figures surrounding your target audience, it’s then time to create a more tangible description of the person or people you’re looking to turn into customers. This tactic will make envisioning your target audience much easier and help to give them a real human side. Laura Lake, a contributor to TheBalance.com, suggests including information like age, gender, income level, relationship status, goals, likes and dislike when coming up with a description of your target customer. Give her or her a name and treat them like a real, living person.

You can’t dial in the best way to communicate or entice your target market if you’re not completely sure who they are and what they want. Use the tips mentioned above to make this process easier on yourself so your marketing tactics can truly hit home with each and every campaign.

Want to Achieve Excellence in Strategy Development?

Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Strategy Development. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.

"Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu

For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to "Tactical" Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.

These frameworks include Porter's Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner's Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.

Learn about our Strategy Development Best Practice Frameworks here.