Great Products Mean Nothing Without a Target Audience

By: Mark Holland Click author's name for more of his/her articles

When starting a new business or even revamping an existing one, perhaps the most important question to ask is who you are trying to target with your product or service. Without successfully answering this question, your advertising and marketing efforts will fall short, while your budgets will disappear right along with your sales.

Within any industry, the main goal of businesses is to sell a product or service to generate profit. To achieve this, it’s critical to identify people who are interested in what you have to offer and be ready and willing to buy. This group of people is your target audience, and it is imperative to learn as much about them as possible so as to best meet their wants and needs.

The first factor you must take into consideration when establishing your target audience is whether you want to sell to consumers, businesses or both. Once you have made this determination, the following criteria can help specifically narrow your focus:

If you plan to sell to consumers:
•What is your target audience’s age ?
•Are they children, teens, men or women?
•Are they married or single?
•What is their occupation?
•Where do they live?
•Are you targeting consumers in a specific income range? If so, what is it?
•What products or services make their lives easier, as related to your niche? How does yours fill that need?

If you plan to sell to businesses:
•Are you targeting specific people within an organization? If so, what are their job titles?
•Are you targeting a specific industry or industries?
•Should your target businesses have a certain number of employees? Annual sales?
•Where should the businesses be located?
•What are their business cultures?
•How does your product or service meet their needs?

Answering these questions should provide you with a target audience. Now that you’ve identified them, you must develop a strategy designed to engage and inform them. All future marketing and advertising efforts will be centered on this group, so spend some time learning their habits. Find out where they shop, what they read, what TV shows they watch. This information will be extremely helpful down the road as you develop your marketing materials and advertising plan. One of the most important tips advertising agencies offer clients is the best way to reach their target market. A shot-gun advertising approach is weak and lacks the necessary strategy to successfully win over potential customers. Spend the time to determine what media outlets will offer maximum exposure to your target audience, then design a plan around that information. Strategically-placed advertising will earn you more quality leads every time.

Another factor to consider is what company or companies, if any, does your target audience currently shop, in relation to your product or service? These are your top competitors. Explore your competition’s service offerings and determine your strengths and weakness versus your competitors’. What do they offer that your company doesn’t? What does your company do better? Investigate online communities, social media outlets and relevant discussion forums to discover what consumers are looking for and appreciate. These informal mediums can produce useful feedback – some of the world’s most recognizable brands use them every day to ensure customer satisfaction. They are also a great place to introduce your product or service to an attentive audience of potential customers. Engage in conversations with this group so that you can fully understand what they desire in relation to your products. This input will be helpful, as it affords you the opportunity to offer exactly what your target audience wants, and will earn you new business in the process.

Though this extensive research and planning requires much effort on the front end, spending the time to really identify and learn about your target audience will pay off dividends later. Holland Advertising : Interactive, Cincinnati’s oldest family-owned advertising agency, has helped hundreds of companies successfully determine their target audiences and go on to build well-known, established brands. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Holland’s services please visit our web site at www.hollandadvertising.com, or call 513.721.1310.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Mark Holland is Vice President of Holland Advertising : Interactive, Cincinnati’s oldest family-owned advertising agency, and the fourth oldest in the nation.