Kick off your marketing by finding your target market FIRST!

I know I need marketing, but where do I start? That’s the first question I get from potential clients. It’s hard to know where to begin….do you get prices for ads, hire a publicist, do a newsletter? It’s so confusing, I’m convinced that’s why many people leave it up to chance. The old “if you build it they will come” idea.

There’s a super easy way to get started on the most important part of your business. What makes all your marketing and PR fall into place is first…a good description of your target customer. Who are they? What do they do? What do they read or watch? Where do they get their information? Sometimes it’s hard to target market because as small businesses, we don’t want to miss anyone. But if you don’t know who you want to reach, how can you figure how where to reach them? And even more so, how do you send a message that you know they’ll listen to?

Need an example? Here’s mine for www.waxcoach.com I came up with some characteristics that I thought would help me find my target media (which is the next step, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.) My customers are this --sole proprietors, authors, inventors and small businesspeople. They like to understand ALL the mechanisms of the business. They are involved in networking groups, want to be worth millions, and are very smart. They read magazines but go online for most of their information. They are between the ages of 28 and 45 and are 75% women, 25% men. (I got that gender split because that’s the percentage of new businesses currently being started by women vs. men.)

Now that I know my target customer, I can figure out where I want to spend my time promoting my business. I’ll decide whether to try for media placements or buy ads later. But picking my media targets should be pretty easy now! You could probably tell me where I should get some mention (and please do if you think of it )

Now I can narrow down my target media, based on my target customer. If I’m a bit off base, I’ll know quickly because I won’t get the response I want. Maybe it will take a few tweaks…. maybe there are more men in my target than I think? Or perhaps the world is full of 50+ entrepreneurs? I’ll knead my target market until I get it right, just like pie dough.

So back to YOUR business. Before you do anything, define your own target customers. Look at your current customers, that should be your first clue. No customers yet? Then use your best instincts to decide and keep it well defined. Trying to hit EVERYONE in the hopes of not missing ANYONE and you’ll spread it too thin. Pick your people, and go for it.

Bonnie Harris is the president of Wax Marketing, a marketing and PR agency for small business. She also operates waxcoach.com, a DIY marketing and PR site for entrepreneurs.. Bonnie can be reached at bonnie@waxcoach.com.



Kick off your marketing by finding your target market FIRST! - To learn more about this author, visit Bonnie 's Website.

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