To aim at a target, you have to define it.
Generally speaking, target marketing strategy is identifying a group of customers to which to direct your products and services. As recently as 10 years ago, audiences were defined in general, age-specific demographic terms. Today, depending upon the media under consideration and the life stage and experience of the person from whom you seek information, consumers are defined in a dizzying blizzard of terms. Good marketers know that targeting goes deeper--intently listening to and understanding customer needs, representing customers' needs to those responsible for product production, and giving them what they want. To determine your target market, there are a number of questions that should be asked.
Who Are Your Customers?
Describe your customers by lifestyle, ethnicity, range of income, and leisure-time activities. Where do they live? What do they care about? Generational marketing, which defines consumers not just by age, but by social, economic, demographic and psychological factors gives a more accurate picture of the consumer targets. Answer this question and most think the job of targeting is done. You are just beginning.
What Do You Have to Offer These Customers?
Ask yourself if what you have to offer truly meets the needs of this target audience(s). If it does not, why not? Odds are, either you haven't correctly identified your audience, or you're offering the wrong product or service. Until you align these two things, there is no targeting in your marketing.
Where Can You Reach These Customers?
The next step in targeting customer messages isn't just knowing where they live, it's understanding things like: where they party and play, where they shop, and where they volunteer their time. Discover this and you have uncovered a wealth of new and relevant ways to get you product in front of your customers.
How and When Do These Customer Prefer to Communicate?
The growth of social media has not only changed how business communicates with customers, but even when they do it. Media isn't just "offline" TV, radio and print. It's splintered to include multiple online mediums--from website banner advertising, e-blast messaging and marketing virtual events, to brand presence on social networking sites where customers may be talking about, sharing, researching and experiencing brands and products. Now, brand communication may be going on late at night at a computer screen, or via mobile text messaging at the top of a mountain.
Why Should These Customers Care?
Marketers used to consider this question solely in terms of how they positioned their product in the marketplace as, for instance, the crispiest fry, the fastest money transfer, the strongest paper towel. Not any more. Now the answer to why a potential customer may care about your product is as likely to be social responsibility as personal relevance. It's generational. To you, your product may be the best thing since pantyhose, but Gen Xers don't care if their mothers used it or not. And if your product doesn't make the world a better place (either in reality or by contributing to a social cause) you may well be bypassed by the Gen Y customer.
