Prioritisation and personalisation are both necessary to win more clients. They can make the difference between winning a sale or losing out to a competitor. And while most businesses understand the need to identify their target market, putting theory into action can prove tricky. So read on and use our tips on identifying your target market and selling to the right audiences.
- Do the research and conduct surveys
- Look at your competitors
- Choose specific demographics and targets
- Create focused content
- How to identify your target market
How to identify your target market
Do the research and conduct surveys
Conducting research can help you better understand your target market, as it gives you more insight into the minds of potential customers. Ask questions around your industry and discover pain points faced by the people who could benefit from your product or service.
Use the insights gained to determine who is a good fit for your offering and who isn’t. For all the savvy marketing in the world, sometimes there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned Q&A on the ground level to understand and identify your target market.
Look at your competitors
Who are your competitors, and which markets do they promote their products and services to? You don’t necessarily want to target the exact same customer base (or maybe you do?). However, you can still extrapolate important information about the type of people who might benefit from your products or services.
Competitor research will help define your market and increase the chances of marketing to your ideal customer personas. Your competitor’s customers may look the same as yours, but you could also unearth gaps in the market that you can take advantage of.
Choose specific demographics and targets
Think about your product or service and analyse who has the need for it. Ask questions like ‘who is most likely to buy it?’, ‘when and where will they use it?’ and ‘what profile do they fit in terms of age, income, etcetera?’. Consider the following factors when identifying your target audience:
- Age
- Gender
- Income level
- Education level
- Location
- Marital or family status
- Occupation
Having details around their demographic will provide more clarity about your customer persona. You can then test different marketing methods to capture their attention and see if there is an appetite for your product or service.
Create focused content that brings your target market to you
You don’t need to speak directly to each client or lead to offer personalised services and strike a chord. Creating content like blog posts, newsletters, and ebooks lets you engage with audiences using focused content to solve their pain points.
Going down the content route can also help if you haven’t quite yet defined your audience. Start by offering tangible advice about topics in your industry and share it across social media, in emails, and other channels.
It will help attract your target audience, who will find your content on search engines and by other means. By focusing your efforts on specific content based on your USP, you’re positioning yourself as an expert while speaking to each reader directly in a way that feels more personalised.
Priority number one
Without knowing who you’re selling to, you’ll struggle to meet business targets. Therefore, a robust strategy should be in place to help you become an expert on your customer base. And by understanding your target market, you can convert more leads and scale your business.
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With experience from working with 50 B2B SaaS startups and insights from over 1,000 founder conversations, we’ve crafted programmes that provide the validation, direction, and tools you need to navigate the complexities of early growth, enabling you to launch with confidence and scale efficiently.