When people think about Marketing, they probably think about fabulous e-mail campaigns, or amazing websites or a video that goes viral. A lot of Marketers will tell you to concentrate on the message, as though that’s the most important detail of a marketing campaign. I’m here to tell you, in my opinion anyway, it’s not.

When you start working on your Marketing plan, before you figure out how to make something go viral, or what your website should look like or say, or really almost anything except what you’re going to sell, you have to figure out your target market. For those who aren’t familiar, a target market is “a particular group of consumers at which a product or service is aimed.” Sounds pretty simple, but it’s really the most important thing you’ll figure out for your business. There are a couple of reasons why.

1. No one’s target market is everyone - The largest company in the world doesn’t market to everyone, they market to segments of people. Take Campbell’s soup - their market is divided into brands, and the marketing for Chunky Soup isn’t branded or marketed the same way Healthy Choice Soup is.

2. You can’t aim a marketing message if there’s no target - The best marketing messages are targeted. They speak to a particular group in their language, about what’s important to them, and on the platforms that the potential customers use.

3. A target market keeps your message on track - If you know who you’re speaking to, what they care about and what you want to tell, or sell, them, you have a roadmap for what your message needs to be and what will lead you somewhere you don’t want, or need, to go.

How To Find Your Target Market

The first step to finding your target market is to look at what you offer for sale. Sometimes the answer to your target market question is right under your nose, but often it takes a little digging. Say you offer accounting services. Then it would appear that your customers would be those who need an accountant. But wait, what sort of accounting services are being offered? Are you a tax accountant? A forensic accountant? A cost accountant? An auditor? Each of those types of accountants will offer different services and have a different target market. So, before you can start defining your target market, you have to define what it is you offer that market and who might want what’s on offer.

The second step is doing some market research. The goal here is to understand your potential customers, who they are, where they go and what’s important to them, but that’s not all. You also need to understand the marketplace you are entering. What are the challenges it offers? Where is your customer base most easily or most often located? Who are your main competitors and what do you offer that they don’t or won’t offer?

This second step also involves talking to existing and prospective customers. Use surveys, referrals and just plain old asking questions to find out what your potential customer base wants, needs and values. A lot of times companies neglect to communicate with their current customers and potential customers and that’s a reason why customer loyalty can be so tenuous. Customers that know and trust you are more likely to stay customers.

A third step involves assessing your competition. Social listening can come in very handy here. Check out your competitor’s social media profiles and try to poinpoint what they do well and where there might be room for improvement. Also pay attention to how responsive your competitors are and how well they communicate with their existing customer base. Any weakness or areas in need of improvement you find could be opportunities for you.

Once you’ve gone through these three steps, you should have a good idea of who belongs in your target market and where they are online and off. Your next step is figuring out what messages will resonate with your target market and how to get those messages in front of the right people at the right time. Definitely subjects for future newsletters.

Resources and Tools

Create a Detailed Buyer Persona - Hubspot - A buyer persona is a detailed template of your ideal customer. While I don’t personally subscribe to the need to make buyer personas, some people do find them useful. This blog post details how to create one and offers free templates.

Social Listening - Coursera.org - While many people are already doing social listening, they may not know exactly what it is, or how to use the knowledge they glean most effectively. This blog post gives you an overview of what social listening is, what you can gain from it, and some tools you can use to do it more effectively.

What Is Market Segmentation - Product Marketing Alliance - Every business may not need to use this, but if you offer a variety of products or have a diverse customer base, market segmentation may be helpful. This post explains what it is and some common ways to segment your market.