In today’s dog-eat-dog world, businesses constantly find themselves amplifying their efforts to win the hearts of their audience. Despite all their efforts, however, many of them are left wondering why they’re struggling to attract these people.
If you happen to be one of these brands, here’s what you’re probably doing wrong: You’re trying to appeal to everybody. You didn’t bother learning more about your ideal customers before you rolled out your campaign when you’re supposed to.
The solution? Target marketing.
In this post, we’ll be exploring the ins and outs of target marketing – what it is, why it matters, the different strategies you can use, and how you can find and analyze your target audience.
Ready to begin? Let’s dive right in!
Table of Contents
Target Marketing: What Is It & Why Does It Matter?
Let’s say you’re a chiropractor who only offers home services. Before you advertise yourself to the general public, the first thing you want to do is identify who your target audience is. That way, you’ll be able to pick a marketing strategy that’s specifically aimed at them.
Rather than spending money advertising on a newspaper where your odds of reaching your ideal clients are low, you can get their attention easily with a direct mail campaign or a Facebook ad. You’ll be bringing in more clients and increasing return on investment at the same time.
That right there is how target marketing works.
To focus your marketing efforts on consumers whose wants and needs match your offerings, you break a market into several segments. Then, you assess these segments to identify which ones will be most likely invested in your products and/or services.
What’s great about target marketing is the fact that it gives you the reassurance that you’re communicating your message to the right people. Not only does it make it easier for you to promote and distribute your offerings, but it also saves you a big chunk of money.
Always remember this: Establishing your prospective customer base and choosing how narrowly or broadly you plan to market to them is key to your brand’s success and longevity.
The Four Target Marketing Strategies You Should Know
When picking your target audience, you should evaluate whether you wish to focus on one or few segments, or you’re going to cater to the mass market. The choice you make will then determine your marketing plan.
So, how exactly can you target your potential customers? Here are four strategies:
1. Mass Marketing (Undifferentiated Marketing)
Mass marketing basically involves marketing to the whole population without a single strategy in place. It’s all about treating the entire market as one, which means there’s no targeting at all. In other words, everyone is a potential customer.
The goal of mass marketing is to reach as many people as possible, hoping that they will support your business. Brands use this strategy mainly because it’s the most cost-effective option. You won’t have to spend a fortune manufacturing products and creating campaigns targeted to everybody.
Think of the entire market as a huge box of cake. If you use the undifferentiated marketing strategy, you don’t take a single slice or half of the dessert; you take the whole treat to yourself. That’s the simplest way to put it.
2. Segment Marketing (Differentiated Marketing)
Also known as differentiated marketing, the segment marketing tactic focuses on a section of people, aka your target audience. Unlike mass marketing, it provides a little more depth and clarity, and it’s more expensive.
Since it has the potential to generate sales volume, higher profits, and larger market share, segment marketing is the most popular choice among the four.
Here, you attract segments that have the most value for your company. You’ll be able to craft separate, concentrated strategies for each of your target segments, which means you don’t have to constantly churn out products that have zero uniqueness to individuals who might have zero interest in them.
With their offerings being more focused and personalized, companies that use differentiated targeting have higher chances of succeeding, as opposed to mass marketers. That’s because consumers love it when brands offer them products with distinctive features, especially those that meet their needs and desires.
Top sports brands have been using segment marketing ever since. Take Reebok, for instance. While it’s mostly known for its CrossFit footwear, the company also offers different types of products for different segments. Whether you’re looking for running shorts, a pair of casual shoes for your child, or even sunglasses, you’ll definitely find them in the nearest Reebok store. No wonder it remains a big name in the industry!
3. Niche Marketing (Concentrated Marketing)
Going back to the cake metaphor, niche or concentrated marketing only takes one small slice which has a certain attribute on top, like maybe a piece of nut or chocolate.
From that concept, you can see that niche marketing involves brands channeling all of their efforts towards a single, defined segment of the population. That way, they can reach their growth potential and form long-lasting relationships with their ideal consumer groups.
Niche marketing is ideal for companies with limited resources, considering that these resources might be too stretched if it competes in many segments. These brands actually find it more profitable to meet the needs of a narrowly defined audience, in contrast to spreading resources over multiple segments.
A good example is Starbucks, which became successful by solely focusing its efforts on gourmet coffee lovers. Another is Lush, an eco-friendly cosmetics retailer that stands out from the rest by using their website as a platform to fight animal testing and plastic packaging, rather than selling their products.
With niche marketing, you’ll be doing yourself a favor as it enables you to streamline your marketing efforts and create unique campaigns for your narrow audience. However, you’ll have a hard time knowing and governing those who are interacting with you.
This is where we introduce you to the final target marketing strategy……
4. Micromarketing (Customized Marketing)
If you’re looking for a way to target a much smaller section of your audience, micromarketing is the answer. In this tactic, you make your prospects and customers your top priority by customizing your products to meet their needs.
Etsy.com does an exceptional job at micromarketing. The brand focuses on handmade products taking orders from people with specific requirements. Groupon is another. Besides the fact that it allows customers to get location-based deals from almost any digital device, it tracks user activity and tailors deals and content accordingly.
Finding & Analyzing Your Target Audience
Now that you have a clear understanding of target marketing and the four strategies you can use, let’s talk about your target audience.
As with business planning, gathering information about your ideal audience shouldn’t be something you only do once and never revisit. In fact, you’ll constantly need to be coming up with ways to better understand your prospects for as long as you’re in the business.
It’s crucial to identify who your target customers are, where they live, how they behave, and what motivates them to make decisions. It’s even more crucial to test your assumptions so you’ll know that you’re barking up the right tree.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who needs my product and/or service?
Make sure to include basic demographic details like age, gender, occupation, family size, and educational level.
- How much money do they make?
Whether you’re selling handmade crafts or luxury boats, it’s always a good idea to know how much money your customers are willing to spend.
- Where do my customers live?
Aside from their home addresses, you could also use postal or zip code, area code, city, state, or country (if your business is international). We highly recommend you learn additional details such us the size of the area and its population density too.
- Why do my customers make the choices they make?
This question pertains to the personality and lifestyle of your customers, making it easier for you to recognize their buying patterns.
- How do my customers behave?
All customers purchase products to fulfill a specific need, but how exactly do they regard that need? How they use your products? And, why do they choose you over your competitors?
Now, you’re probably wondering how to collect all these important details. Allow us to help you with these quick tips:
- Use tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Insights to gather more information about your customers.
- Check your social media business profiles for a free demographic breakdown of your followers in the backend analytics area.
- Study your customers’ pain points and purchase paths so you can reach them through the right channels and create content explaining how your products and/or services can help them.
- Take advantage of your own sales data. Check your inventory history or payment processor to learn significant things such as when your customers often do their shopping, what time of day is the busiest, and how much the average purchase is.
- Use census details from the US Census Bureau if you have your customers’ zip codes. You can get them for free.
- Ask your customers directly through online surveys or email. Don’t hesitate to offer a freebie or store credit if you’re having trouble getting participants.
In Conclusion
Targeting marketing plays a vital role in the growth of your business. While each targeting strategy has its pros and cons, choosing the one that’s most suitable for you can help you bring the results you’re hoping for.
