Without a defined target group, there is no successful customer acquisition. To address your potential customers, be it in the media, at trade fairs, or in other ways; you must know who it is and where you can find them. In short: you must define your target group. Once you have identified your specific target group, you can fully concentrate on them.
It has several advantages. You get to know your target group better over time and get a feel for their wishes, needs, and problems. If the customer feels that you are understanding, it is easier to build trust in you and your product or service. Trust is the basis for successful cooperation. Also, you avoid spending much time and money on unnecessary advertising measures that miss their target.
What is a Target group anyway?
Simply put, a target group is a specific group of people that you, as an entrepreneur, want to reach to sell your product or service to them. Ideally, they are your future customers. The number of people in this group is unlimited. However, it must be homogeneous to reach it through targeted marketing campaigns. Now all you must do is determine various characteristics that you can use to define your target group. It can be both B2B and B2C customers.
A few research-based tricks can help define your target audience.
Tips for defining your Target market
- Consider your current client base – Know your existing clients and the reason for purchase. Learn your audience’s characteristics and interests to increase clients’ conversion rates.
- Check out the level of competition – Find your competitor’s marketing strategy and learn about their current clients. Instead of penetrating the same market, you should select the niche market they are ignoring.
- Analyze your product or service – Make a list of your products, services, and benefits. This practice will significantly impact your sales and boost your profits.
B2C target group: The private individual as a Customer
With B2C marketing, your company addresses the end customer who should use your product or service. You have a much larger target group at your disposal than with B2B marketing. Potential private customers are easier to survey and provide information about the individual target groups based on budget, consumer behavior, and personal preferences. You use the potential customers’ demographic, psychographic, and socio-economic characteristics to define the target group.
What are the Characteristics of my Target group?
Not everyone is automatically the ideal customer for your product or service. But how do you find out for yourself how your specific target group is composed? Separate the trash from the wheat. Market segmentation breaks down the overall market into its components. The individual segments’ division (according to products, product features, or customers) is the basis for a target group-coordinated marketing.
Various market research instruments lead to this goal. It makes sense to first differentiate according to the following distinctive features:
- Demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, place of residence, household size)
- Socio-economic factors (level of education, occupation, income)
- Psychographic characteristics (lifestyle, values, desires, motivation, opinions)
- Buying behavior (price sensitivity, satisfaction, buying range, media usage)
Every company should define its target group according to specific, individual criteria. The first step to successfully determine the potential target group is to sort them according to the customers’ wishes and problems and then divide them into sub-groups by further categorizing them in the next step. The classic distinction of customers, according to characteristic features, is the basis of market segmentation.
Conversely, it is just as crucial for you to know who you are. What distinguishes your company, and for what does your product stand? Before determining your target group, you should clearly define: Which profile do I have? How do I differ from my competitors? The customer must know what he is getting from you and who he is dealing with it.
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