Defining your target market: Strategies and examples

Imagine that you’re creating a series of artistic iPhone cases — sparkly unicorns, football mayhem, calming countryside, etc. — but you’re creating these great products for an audience that doesn’t own iPhones. Instead, they predominantly use Android phones that have different phone specifications. This creates a situation that’s like playing darts blindfolded.

You can build the most innovative products, but if you don’t identify the right target audience, you’re not going to generate any revenue.

What is a target market? How do you know it’s the right target market for your business? How can you make target markets a key element of your overall marketing strategy? Let’s find out…

What is a target market?

A target market is like finding the perfect pair of shoes in a sea of options. As a business, you want to find the specific set of consumers that will buy, use, and appreciate your products and services. A lot hinges on understanding who your potential customers are, what they need, what their pain points and behavior patterns are, and where to find them.

Finding the right target market is important to know who you are building for and what you should be building for them. You don’t want to end up creating snow boots for desert nomads or lace-tying shoes for flip flop beach goers.

Identifying the right target market and understanding it well will set your business up for success, allowing you to customize your product development and marketing efforts to meet the needs of potential paying customers. Whether it’s designing user-friendly products, crafting compelling ads, or engaging on social media, you should aim to resonate and create deep connections with your target audience.

By honing in on a specific target market, you can avoid the scattergun approach and hit the bullseye with your marketing efforts, leading to happier customers, increased sales, and a stronger brand presence in the competitive marketplace.

Types of target markets

By understanding the different types of target markets, you can customize your business offerings to specific user requirements, develop more effective marketing strategies, and better position yourself in the competitive marketplace. Target markets can vary widely depending on factors such as the type of product/service, user personas, specific customer pain points, and more. Here are some types of target markets:

• User personas — Target markets can be defined based on user personas which are developed with the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes of potential customers. It helps target specific types of users or roles within an organization
• Industry verticals — You can also segment target markets by industry sectors such as healthcare, finance, education, retail, manufacturing, etc. This helps you develop industry-specific solutions that are tailored to the unique requirements and regulations of each vertical, leveraging opportunities and addressing challenges specific to that industry
• Business sizes — The size of the business can define the type of target market, such as small and medium businesses (SMBs) and larger businesses (enterprise). The needs and budgets of these businesses are significantly different, making them want different things from your product offerings
• Geographic locations — Target markets can also be specific to geographic regions, either based on language, cultural preferences, or regulatory requirements. Localization and internalization efforts are also incorporated to adapt products and services to different target markets
• Consumer or enterprise — Target markets can also be divided into consumer or enterprise markets. Consumer markets target specific individuals or groups of individuals, for example, productivity apps, entertainment software, and social media
• Specialized niches— You can also target markets with specialized niches or subsets within broader markets. They represent a small user base with highly specific requirements

5 target market strategies

Identifying, understanding, and honing your target market requires a combination of customer feedback, market research, and data analysis. This is important because it will lead to higher customer satisfaction and more focused marketing efforts, ultimately leading to sustainable business growth. Here are five approaches you can use to identify your target market:

Market research and analysis

By deeply understanding your potential target audience through market research, including demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and needs, you can effectively identify gaps and opportunities. This also includes analyzing industry trends, competitor offerings, and the dynamic economic conditions of the market. This will give you product direction and help you build a solid vision for your business.

User personas and segmentation

Based on what you learn by doing market research and analysis, you can develop detailed user personas that represent your ideal customer base, including demographics, job roles, interests, and goals. You can also segment your potential target audience into different groups, especially if you have different product/service offerings. This will help you build stronger connections with your target audience.

Customer feedback loops

Enable your potential customers to try out your product prototypes or early versions of the product and give their feedback on usability, functionality, and the overall user experience. This iterative approach of refining products, based on customer feedback and beta testing, will help you build the right products and also foster a sense of trust and loyalty among early adopters and brand advocates.

Industry partnerships and networking

You can build credibility in the marketplace by partnering with other established brands in the market that complement your own brand and/or product offerings. By participating in industry events, conferences, and workshops, you’ll find valuable networking opportunities to meet potential customers and gain industry insights into what’s working and what’s not.

Continuous monitoring and iteration

The needs of customers are always evolving and the market is highly competitive. To stay relevant and gain competitive advantage, you need to continuously monitor user, market, and industry trends and iterate your product development and marketing efforts accordingly. Identify key performance indicators that will help you measure customer engagement and satisfaction.

Steps for developing a target market strategy

An effective target market strategy is crucial to the success of your business, as it can help your teams become more efficient with less resources. Developing a target market strategy involves a systematic approach that combines market research, data analysis, and strategic decision making. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you develop your target market strategy:

1. Define your product offering — Identify and understand the problem(s) your product/service offerings address and how it benefits users. Clearly define every product and/or service offering, including its features, functionalities, and value proposition. Also, define your vision and what success criteria means for your business. This clarity will form the foundation of your target market strategy
2. Conduct market research — Gather market intelligence, including customer demographics, direct and indirect competitors, and industry trends. Study the market segments that align with your product/service offerings and have the potential for growth. Use industry reports, online databases, and market research tools to obtain relevant information
3. Identify your target market — Based on your market research, identify specific target market segments that are most likely to benefit from your product/service offerings. Consider the different types of target markets listed above — user personas, industry verticals, business sizes, and more. Identify the type of target market that has the highest potential for success
4. Understand potential customers — Conduct surveys, customer interviews, and focus groups to gather insights directly from your potential user base. Understand what their needs, pain points, preferences, behavior, and buying patterns are. This will help you customize your product and marketing strategies to your specific target market
5. Segment and develop user personas — Segment your target market based on common characteristics and needs. Create detailed user personas that represent your separate target market segments. Each persona should encapsulate the key attributes, pain points, goals, motivations, and preferred communication channels of your target users
6. Position your offerings — Leverage your target user personas to inform product development, marketing, and customer engagement strategies. Highlight the unique value proposition of your product/service offerings for each target market segment and develop targeted messaging and positioning. Customize your marketing efforts, pricing strategies, and distribution channels to each of your target market segments
7. Adapt and iterate — Continuously monitor user feedback, performance metrics, and market dynamics to iterate and refine your target market strategy. Stay agile and adapt to changes in customer preferences, technological advancements, and industry trends. Regularly reassess your target market segments and adjust your strategies accordingly to ensure continued relevance and business success

Target market segmentation

Target market segmentation is when you identify distinct groups of users with shared characteristics and needs that’ll use your products/services in specific ways. Market segmentation enables you to divide your potential customer base into manageable chunks. This helps in customizing product and service offerings that fit with users’ needs and craft compelling marketing campaigns that establish strong emotional connections with them, leveraging each segment for maximum revenue impact.

For example, Adobe’s Creative Cloud provides different products to different market segments, based on whether they are graphic designers, video creators, or photographers.

Target market segmentation isn’t about dividing customers into neat little boxes, it’s about uncovering those hidden gems and untapped opportunities. Take Slack, for example — the company initially targeted tech startups and smaller teams. It soon realized that there was a growing demand for their collaboration platform among larger enterprises.

By segmenting its target market beyond its initial customer base, Slack was able to provide value with its product offerings to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. The company now offers different packages with different features and pricing, based on the market segments it serves.

Examples of successful target markets

Many software companies have been able to grow sustainably by successfully identifying and leveraging the right target audiences. These companies were able to build loyal customer bases and also gained a competitive edge in a highly dynamic market. Let’s look at some of these companies and the accompanying target markets:

Small business accounting software

Intuit’s QuickBooks and Xero offer accounting software, specifically targeted to small businesses. These platforms provide simplified bookkeeping and accounting processes, with user friendly interfaces and customized features to meet the needs of small business owners, who might not have the resources and lack the accounting expertise themselves to keep the business running.

Collaboration tools for remote work

With the rise of remote work, collaboration software such as Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace, etc. have become essential for businesses and individuals alike. By specifically targeting remote workers and freelancers, these platforms provide real-time communication and collaboration, the ability to video chat and share files, and seamless integration across different devices.

Project management tools for tech teams

Software tools like Atlassian’s JIRA, Trello, Asana, and Wrike have captured the project management market, specifically targeting tech teams around the world. These platforms offer agile project management features, integrations with developer tools, and customizable process workflows, thus catering to the unique requirements of software development projects.

Creative platforms for designers and digital artists

Software such as Adobe and Pixlr target creative professionals who need powerful and accessible tools for photo/video editing and graphic design. These cloud-based platforms provide large storage for heavy media files, advanced features, and user friendly interfaces. Whether you’re a corporate designer or a social media influencer, you can leverage these tools from any device, even when you’re on the go.

Key takeaways

Defining your target market is pivotal for success. Through strategic approaches like market segmentation, customer research, and competitive analysis, you can unlock valuable insights into the needs and preferences of potential users. While there are various types of target markets, you need to pick the ones that offer the highest growth potential for your product/service offerings.

To remain relevant and for sustained growth, you need to continuously monitor and refine your target market strategy. Here are three key takeaways:

1. Market segmentation is crucial — The more detailed you can be with your target market segments, the better you can customize your approach and efforts to address the needs of customers
2. Have a customer-centric approach — Thoroughly understand your target market, what they do, why they’re motivated, and how they would feel using your products/services. Refine your product and market strategies accordingly
3. Embrace niche opportunities — Explore niche opportunities and gaps you discover through your journey of developing a target market strategy, it could provide the competitive edge you need

Embrace your target market strategy, leverage the power of data-driven insights, and tailor your approach to captivate potential customers in the dynamic realm of product innovation. Now, when you’re creating those beautiful phone cases, you’ll know exactly who you’re selling them to!

Featured image source: IconScout