Ten Essential Questions to Ask Your Market, cont’d.
Now for the conclusion of an article by guest author, Donna Gunter, which gives
insight on how to identify your target market.
6. Location. Where do they hang out in real time — at church, the local
coffee shop, the hardware store, civic groups or professional association
meetings? What about online in discussion groups, blogs, forums, online
networking sites? Do they attend conferences or trade shows regularly? Can you
open the yellow pages of your phone book and find several listings that would
encompass your target market?
7. Information Gathering. What magazines, newspapers, email newsletters,
blogs, and professional trade publications do they read? What television
programs do they regularly watch? What kind of movies do they see? What kind of
online videos do they view?
8. Connections. With whom do they do business on a regular basis? Where
do they network online and offline? Who are their “natural referral partners”,
or other businesses who cater to the same target market but offer a different
service? Whom do they trust and respect?
9. Communication. How do they prefer to interact — in person, by email,
by webconferencing? Are there buzzwords or industry-specific terms that they use
frequently? What gets their attention?
10. Problems and Solutions. What are the key issues/problems/concerns
keeping them awake at night? Are they in enough pain that they’re willing to pay
you to solve their problem? Where are they seeking assistance to help solve the
problem? What kinds of products and services might they purchase to help solve
this problem — books, magazines, coaching, consulting, etc.?
Once you’ve completed several interviews, then compile the information you have
received and create a profile of your target market. Based on the info in this
profile, then answer these three questions:
1. Are there enough of them to make them viable as a group?
2. Would I enjoy working with this target market?
3. Do you offer ready solutions that would help this target market solve their
problems?
If the answers to those questions are all “yes”, have this profile available to
you as you plan your marketing strategy, write your website copy, create
information products, write articles, blog, or compose your email newsletter.
When you fully understand your target market, you are able to streamline and
focus your marketing, and you’ll wonder why you ever waited this long to define
your target market!
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach Donna Gunter helps service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.
I specialize in creating customized marketing solutions for small business. Contact me at georgann at catchphrasemarketing dot com, or call me at 888-494-8445 to discuss how you can get more clients and increase profitability without increasing marketing expenses. Yes, you really CAN have it all!
10 Essential Questions to Ask Your Target Market
Article by guest author, Donna Gunter. This article will be published in
two parts.
“My target market is everybody.” Is this statement true for your business?
If so, how is that working for you? My guess would be that it’s not working
at all. I shudder when a client tells me that their target market is everyone.
When you target everyone, it’s too hard to focus on anyone and you attract
no one.
One of the most terrifying decisions an online business owner makes is the
decision to refine and define their target market. Why? Generally because
they’re scared of excluding people. However, the more focused you are in your
marketing efforts and the better you understand and can define your target
market, the easier your marketing becomes. Really! And, what’s even more
astonishing is that you’ll soon begin to hear, “Well, I know you only work with
<xyz market> and have seen how successful they have been in working with you,
but I’m <abc market>. Will you work with me, too, and help me succeed?”
What’s the easiest way to uncover the characteristics of your target market?
Conduct informational interviews with those who belong to that target market.
Despite the fact that most informational interviews are used by people seeking a
job in a particular market, you can apply this concept to help you create a full
description of your target market. If you have no idea who that might be,
interview some of your favorite clients or friends/colleagues that you think
would make an ideal client for you. Go through your contact database Read more
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