Tweet

Who is Your Target Audience?

Written by: Barbara Spagnola

Article Overview: While planning your postcard campaign, you created your goals, offer and message for the postcard campaign. A critical component of the planning was to define your target audience. Your target audience is those individuals who would most likely benefit from your offer and take advantage (buy!) your services or products. Taking the time to carefully “profile” your target audience will improve the likelihood of success.

Who is Your Target Audience?

While planning your postcard campaign, you created your goals, offer and message for the postcard campaign. A critical component of the planning was to define your target audience.

Your target audience is those individuals who would most likely benefit from your offer and take advantage (buy!) your services or products. Taking the time to carefully “profile” your target audience will improve the likelihood of success.

You can profile your target audience by using the buying characteristics of your current customers. For example, your company manufactures and wholesales trinkets to small businesses in your state. You further define a small business as a company that has gross revenues of less than $1 million per year. The decision maker for these businesses is the purchasing agent. Your offer is to sell surplus trinket inventory at a discount. Another goal for this campaign is expanding your business to a nearby state.

Since you want to sell surplus trinkets at a discount and encourage repeat business, your target audience includes your current customer base. They know you and are familiar with your name and reputation. Because you want to expand your business to a nearby state, you want to mail your postcards to the purchasing agents of those companies that gross less than $1million per year.

Profiling is important not only for business to business postcard campaigns but also for business to individual consumers. Before you ever went into business, you probably did market research to determine the characteristics of those who were likely to buy from you. For example, you located your store where there was foot traffic; you sell expensive jewelry so you located in an affluent area where the buyers make more than $50,000 per year; you offer your services exclusively over the internet so you need buyers who own a computer; you sell rock and roll memorabilia and your customer profile includes certain age groups, income levels, and people who purchase more than 25 CDs per year.

It is very important that your goals, offer, message and the mailing list you select work together. Take the time to profile your current and potential buyers. The more specific you are about your target audience the better your chances for a successful postcard campaign. Concept Marketing Group, Inc. is a full-service marketing consulting firm with over 29 years of experience in traditional marketing - including 13 years on the Internet. Concept Marketing Group Inc. assists in developing and implementing effective sales and marketing strategies for businesses through targeted, managed, strategic marketing campaigns.

Related Articles
  How to Find a Diamond in the Rough
  Target Audience – One of the Four P’s
  The Best Keywords Ever for Your SEO Campaign
  How to Make Your Online Article More Effective by Defining Your Target Audience
  Identifying Your Websites Target Audience

Article Tags: affluent area, age groups, certain age, critical component, customer base, customer profile, decision maker, expanding your business, expensive jewelry, foot traffic, gross revenues, nearby state, postcard campaign, purchasing agent, purchasing agents, repeat business, roll memorabilia, target audience, trinket, trinkets



Related Forum Posts
Re: How should i promote a new website? - ignore this message IF it's already been stated. I haven't had a chance to read all the replies and i have to jet from the office... I suggest marketing where ever your Target Market congregates. If it's a forum of concerned parents - go there. Strike up a deal with the forum owner (JV) and have him promote it to the list of members (Integration Marketing). If you want to go with Forums then i would partner with a parent who is a frequent poster/moderator on a particular Target Market Forum and have him/her add your link to their signature. That was just a thought but it's not as intense once you get buy in from the Forum owner or high ranked poster/moderator. Hope that sparks some new ideas.
Re: Top 5 Magazines For SEO - Hi GT, Thanks for the update, I have checked out the others and as I think Jeff said earlier in this post, B2BM is the only free one as the rest are by subscription only although Target Marketing Magazine is free in the US only and there are some qualifying criteria to observe before you are accepted. I can’t justify the subscription to all of them but I will sign up to B2B and if any members subscribe to any of the others then perhaps you could give us some feedback, regards, Mal.
War Time clothing niche - Dan, interesting niche. Can you share some of your lessons learned in the following areas: 1. Marketing (Target market? and how you reach them) 2. Do you dropship or stock the products yourself? 3. How do you encourage repeat sales by your current customers? We don't get too many people in the Internet Business share these experiences. Your timing with the niche seems appropriate with war on everyones mind in the States. Do you find that during the last few years you've been getting more hits?
Re: How do you overcome the fear of rejection while selling? - If you are prepared and know what are your primary and secondary goals before you call (or visit) your potential client - you will feel less fear and more confidence. Draw them in – open them up. At the end of every statement, ask for their approval or observation. Get the potential customer into the repetition of approving every step that you take. Target the benefits of your product and not the features. Use “W” – open them with questions starting with a “W”. Why, who, when, what are all questions that lead to a response. And follow with “Is that OK?” And remember - people are rejectiong your business proposal, not you personally.
Where I want WSI to be in Dec 31 2007 - Here are my goals for end of 2007 Employees - SEO specialist - admin assistant - sales rep - designer/data entry - copy writer (may be outsourced) Target market (client base) manufacturers 10-50 million in revenue looking for integrated marketing solution ranging from 10k - 30k Systems - crm fully utilized - project management smooth process - sales and marketing to continuously generate leads SALES (My big Goal to focus on ) Last years sales revenue was $220K This year we want to hit $500K - approx 40k per month


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What I Really Want Is...

The Importance of Master Data Management (MDM)

Common Sense Stress Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.