Target Marketing Strategies

Target marketing is identified as pinpointing a certain group of potential customers that your company desires to sell the products and/or services in which it specializes. It is a defined group that specifies to whom your company wants to direct all of its marketing efforts. It is one identified part of the entire market for a product and/or service. The consumers that are part of a target market share characteristics that are similar to one another, such as location, demographics, and income.

What is the STP Marketing Strategy?

In target marketing, the STP marketing strategy refers to segmentation, targeting, and positioning. In order to succeed in this strategy, you must first divide up the market into unique segments of potential buyers that share similar characteristics. The most popular criteria in segmentation includes division based on the following:

1. Demographics
2. Psychographics
3. Geographics
4. Behavioral

In the targeting activities, your company simply analyzes the various initial segments to make a determination on who is the best of all, in terms of target audience. In positioning, you will expound on the best methods for reaching the various segments and determine the overall pros and cons of each. Then, you will create a specific plan on how to reach the target audience and where you will focus your marketing efforts to succeed in the endeavor.

How to Segment Your Market

There are numerous techniques that may be utilized to engage in market segmentation. There aren’t limitations here. Demographics is considered to be the most common form of segmentation as certain characteristics often determine the buying habits of those within a certain group, like age, gender, education level, sexuality, occupation, the size of a family and interests.

Psychographics segments individuals by their traits and unique personalities. Researching the values, favorite types of activities, and opinions of these buyers help you to identify your target audience in this segmenting strategy. For example, if you are selling a product that is not name brand and relatively inexpensive, you are likely to appeal to individuals that are frugal or follow the minimalism movement.

If segmenting by geographics, you will be identifying your target audience by their general location – be it country, state, city, or whether or not they live in a rural area or an urban region. You should conduct zip code research as the information that you uncover is likely to render information that will help you determine if the products and/or services that you specialize in are appropriate for consumers that live in a specific area.

When segmenting by the behavioral component, your company will simply analyze how potential customers behave by their interaction with your business. Do they purchase online or in the traditional brick and mortar store more often? Do they just purchase around the holidays or throughout the entire year? Do they only buy certain items or a wide array of items?

What are the 3 Factors That Help in Target Marketing Segmentation?

The 3 factors that may be used in target marketing segmentation are size, reachability, and profitability. Each are outlined below, with a brief explanation of each:

1. Size – Is the target audience that you have identified too small or too large?
2. Reachability -Will it be challenging or even expensive to reach the target audience you have pinpointed and get your message across in an effective manner?
3. Profitability – Here, you will run your unique numbers (in terms of your anticipated profit) on the various segments you have come up with and determine how much it will cost compared to the profits you expect to receive.

When coming up with a target market, it is imperative that you stay frugal. You only have so much money that may be put towards marketing, so make sure that you are getting the most for your money.

How Do I Identify My Target Audience?

As a business owner, you have invested a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of resources into your company and the creation of your website. It is imperative that you make certain that you are targeting and also attracting the most ideal right audience for the products and/or services that your business offers.

This is the foundational component of the marketing strategy that you elect to implement. The following outlines some techniques that you may use to discover the best target audience for your business needs:

1. Your Current Customers – Take the time to analyze all of the characteristics of the customers that your business currently serves. You should write these down and organize them into a unique profile that outlines the shared characteristics. You should run a RFM analysis. “RFM” stands for “recency, their frequency, and monetary”. By knowing who you currently serve, you will be able to successfully build on that and reach more people that share the same characteristics.
2. Consider the Benefits – Next, consider the products and/or services that you offer. Who will those benefit and in what way? Identify those consumers that have either a need or an interest in the products and/or services that you offer and then go from there, in terms of narrowing down your target audience. By considering the benefits that your products and/or services that you offer, you will gain an understanding of who will benefit or obtain value from them. Think of the products and/or services that you offer as solutions to problems that certain consumers have and determine who those consumers are from that point, forward.
3. Analyze Demographics – Next, draw up a demographic-based portrait. Treat this step kind of like creating a character in a video game. Then, analyze that character’s location, their behavior, and their general demographics. By taking this step, you will gain information on the indicators and the factors that help you pinpoint your target audience. Remember, always analyze the skills and interests of those individuals, too!
4. Own Your Niche – The next step in creating a target audience is knowing your niche and commit to completely owning it. Focus your time on all things that are directly related to your business and the website associated with it. While it may be tempting to go big with your niche, avoid doing this. If you are specific you will get a lot more attention from those people that are interested in your products and/or services. Join groups, forums, and pages on the internet that get you where your potential customers are. Get to know them and make a point to see the world the way that they see it. Find out what people want to know and what they need. Then, construct your website around that by providing questions and solutions that they need to solve their problems.
5. Research the Competition – Always research the businesses that you are in direct competition with. They likely know your target audience. Review their pages on social media platforms, analyze their website, review their blog. Then, pull out what seems to be working for them and make it work for you. This will provide you with a huge advantage which -eventually -may have the target audience from your competition buying from you!

What are the Benefits of Target Marketing?

There are many different benefits of target marketing. First, it will allow you to identify individuals and/or groups of consumers that are interested in what you have to offer. Second, it will help you tailor the products and/or services that you offer so that you appeal to the consumers that have a need for them. You will discover the unique needs and the wants that your customers have. In turn, it leads to higher levels of customer satisfaction. In addition to this, target marketing will allow you to experience the following benefits:

1. By target marketing, your business will be able to pinpoint the needs of certain consumer groups. In turn, when a product or service meets a consumer’s needs, you will find that your sales increase rapidly.
2. You will be able to specialize in selling your products and/or services in certain places in order to attract certain people. This will help immensely in maximizing the number of sales that your company experiences.
3. You will save money by not spending it on ineffective techniques.
4. You will have the unique capability of speaking directly to an audience that you have defined. You will find that these messages actually resonate a little more deeply with people that are capable of relating to the information that you provide.
5. Target marketing helps you attract and actually convert leads that are considered to be high-quality. In turn, these leads are more likely to transition into paying customers.
6. Target marketing is beneficial in that it helps you differentiate your brand from that of your competitors. Your customers will be able to better identify the unique-based selling propositions that your company is offering. In nine out of ten cases, if you speak directly to your target audience, those individuals will likely choose you over your competition. This is especially true if your competition doesn’t speak directly to that particular audience. This positioning will allow your brand to become more reputable.
7. Target marketing will help you build a higher and deeper level of loyalty among your customers. This will help you create longer-lasting types of relationships. If a customer feels as if you are committed to being an advocate for their needs, they will be very loyal to your brand and are more likely to do business with you over a longer period of time.
8. By marketing among certain consumers, you will start to know them on a more intimate level. This will help you carefully evaluate the products and/or services that you offer so that you may actually engage in the process of improving them, over time. You may even be able to uncover new products and services that you may offer your customers so that you are able to expand your business.
9. The customers that you target will feel as if you know them and that they are important. This builds trust. In turn, you will find that the customers become firm supporters of your business and that they purchase from you and interact with you on a more regular basis.
10. Target marketing helps you build up your brand and your company’s team. You will become more focused. In turn, you will be able to evaluate your strategies, take notice of the initiatives that you have, and the overall direction of your brand. You can ensure that everyone that is part of your company is on the same page. You will be able to completely optimize your time, the amount of money that you have in your budget, and the resources that you have.

Contact Us Today

Target marketing helps in serving your brand and your customers. It is a way to improve the development of your products and your general operations. You will be capable of actually differentiating yourself, which allows you to make much more of a significant impact. You must start with a clear persona of your buyer. Research must be done and many other steps must be taken -including creating a website and a blog. We here at Brick Road Media have the tools, knowledge, and resources to assist you with your target marketing plan.

We know and understand that your business is your passion. Your business is also our passion, as is your overall success. By contacting us today, we can help you create a modern website that stands out above your competitors. We have more than two decades of experience in terms of website development and design. We know and understand what you – our client -consider to be most valuable. Modern websites, ecommerce, and monthly search engine optimized content are just a few of our specialties and techniques for helping you achieve the overall success that you desire. We care and we understand your needs. Contact us today to guarantee success for all of your tomorrows!