Writing Your Business Plan: Part IV - Target Market

I know, you want to sell your widget to everyone. The fact is, not everyone will buy your widget. So you will need to know your customers to target them directly and craft your message to their likes, dislikes, hot buttons, and emotional triggers. Finally bringing them to purchase your product or service - hopefully over and over again! Its like working smarter, not harder and will save you marketing dollars in the long run.

Here are some basics to determine about your target:

• Age and generation
• Gender
• Geographic location: Country, Region, State, City, Neighborhood
• Income
• Net worth
• Marital status
• Family size
• Ethnic group
• Level of education
• Home ownership
• Occupation
  

Now lets get a little more detailed about their lifestyle:

• Hobbies: Do they knit, water ski, garden, watch sci-fi movies?
• Buying choices: Do they drive a Mercedes or a Honda? Shop at Target or Saks Fifth Avenue?
  
• Do they listen to: classical, metal, talk radio?
• Are they technology-minded? Always have the newest gadget or don't even have email?
  
• Do they seek social status?
  
• Where do they vacation?
  

You can do the same exercise if your business sells to other businesses:

• What industry and sector?
  
• Years in business?
• Company revenues?
• Number of employees?
• Number of locations/branches?
• Ownership?
• Company culture?
  

After you have a picture of your customers you should look for where they hang out. Are they online? Read blogs or magazines? Do they go out to brick and mortar shops or shop online?

Define how the customer purchases and how often, how they use the product and what the motivation is for continuing to use your product. You will also want to explain your sales cycle, how long it will take for customers to make a purchase decision.

Speaking of purchasing decisions... Take a look at your product and compare it to your customers decision making criteria of price, quality, features, return policy, warranty, etc. But also find out what you target prefers in terms of buying experience, packaging, sales people, location, convenience and any thing else you find important. Mix these into your marketing and sales plan!

Now that we have the target and their behaviors defined, how big is the pool? Is it large enough to sustain your business? Is it too large, inviting in competition? Will it grow and how fast? Be ready to back up your claims by benchmarking to other businesses or finding external data to site.

The final piece of the target market is to define trends that can influence your business. These trends might offer strategic opportunities or erode your market share. Discuss how you will address each trend or change in the market place and where you see your product or service meeting the new needs of your consumer.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions!

Increase your business visibility and reach out to your clients.

It's the little things.

Here are some quick things you can do to increase your visibility and reach out to your clients, even ones you haven't met yet.

Use the internet!

• Facebook is FREE, Twitter is FREE - start pages and accounts for your business.
• Update (or list) your business in Google Places (Maps).
• Update or list your business in Yahoo, Citysearch, Yelp, etc.
• Add photos to your listings.
• Add A COUPON to your listings.
• Share your listings, coupons, etc
  

Start a Google AdWords campaign!

• You can choose your budget.
• Before you start - make sure your website is up to par.

Use email!

• Start a newsletter.
• Email a coupon.
• Hold an event.
• Announce a new product or service.

Offer a referral bonus!
Call your existing clients!

You may have heard all these suggestions before, but sometimes we can use a reminder, a little kick or some help getting started.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.