Narrow Your Market: Less Is More

Imagine a hearing healthcare provider who targets only age 50-60 and another provider who only targets age 70-80. Are they crazy? If you follow common industry practice of targeting to age 65+, you’d probably say these providers are missing the mark.

It feels counter-intuitive, but these providers are practicing the number one rule in marketing: Know. Your. Target. Market. They did their research, and they know the people they are trying to reach. And it works. Not only does it drive competitive business to them, but it also drives new business.

Marketing is more than just lead generation campaigns. It’s about knowing who your customer is and understanding their needs. After narrowing your focus, building a strategy to stay in front of them comes next. The opportunity to draw them in by educating them on new technology, and building relationships with them along the way is the result of all the hard work you did in the beginning. This is how the most successful businesses carve out their niche and dominate their market.

A narrow target works best

Simply put, you can’t afford to reach everyone. And, even if you could, your message wouldn’t resonate across the board. In order to compete, you need to hone in on a specific market. You need to know your customers’ needs and how you can meet those needs.

Only after you’ve answered these questions can you start forming the communication messages that matter to your target market. You can focus your advertising efforts in the most cost-effective way to show your customers—current and potential—why they should buy from you.

But where to start?

Narrowing down your target market starts with plenty of research, including product, consumer, and competitive. Here are some steps to get started.

1. Dissect your products and services: know what you’re offering and the benefits, as well as who would benefit from them

2. Look at your current customers to determine what they have in common and what motivates their purchases

3. Explore common demographics, including age, location, gender, occupation, etc.

4. Consider the psychographics such as personality, lifestyle, values, hobbies, etc.

5. Explore your competition and make plans to vary your target market

Once you’ve done your due research, you should have a pretty clear idea on who you’re going to target. Now you should analyze your decision to be certain you’re on the right path.

Though it can be a bit challenging, when you have your target market clearly defined, you’ll see that marketing is easier and the return on investment is higher.