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Defining your target market can dramatically increase your product's chances for success in the marketplace. Your target market, of course, is the unique group of customers who can benefit from buying and using your product.

Your first step in defining your target market is to figure out if your product is designed for a niche market or a mass market. While it's tempting to say, "everyone will want one of these," that's rarely true of any product. Example: the market for the average, everyday photo frame is a mass audience; the market for a photo frame painted with sailboats and ducks might be parents, grandparents or teachers.

Next, identify which stores sell similar products and familiarize yourself with competing products. Then, to further define exactly who your customers are, answer the following questions:

• How old are they?
• Are they male or female?
• What is their income range?
• What is their level of education?
• Are they married or single?
• Do they have children?
• Do they have specific ethnic or other considerations?
• What are their lifestyle priorities?
• Where do they live?
• Where do they shop?

Once you answer these questions, you'll have a more in-depth understanding of your market and its motivations and behaviors. This can help you better focus your sales efforts. Let's stick with our photo frame example -- if you've developed, for instance, a line of novelty, handcrafted photo frames at a relatively high price point, you won't want to focus your efforts on mass-market retail stores. Instead, you'd probably focus on higher-end gift shops, specialty and gift catalogs, and similar sales outlets.

Knowing exactly who your target market is can also help you position your product in the most effective way. Positioning your product will help you communicate your product's most important benefits, and knowing what's important to your customer is the first step in this process.

Tagged as: Business Advice, business marketing, target market