Small Business Blog

Your target market is the consumer group most likely to buy your product. This group is usually defined in terms of demographics: age range, gender, geographical location, marital status, etc. It can also be defined in terms of a lifestyle: if you sell karate uniforms (gis), your customers may be kids, teens, adults, etc., but the commonality is their interest in martial arts.

In some cases, the consumer who pays for your product won’t be the same person who uses it. As an example, private tutoring or infant toys are purchased by adults, but used by children. If your product falls into this category, define both the purchaser and the user. This will prompt you to analyze whether you need to market to the purchaser, the user, or both. Toys, for example, are often marketed very effectively to kids, which prompts those kids to ask (or beg) their parents to buy the item of choice. These marketing strategy decisions should ultimately be supported by your consumer research.

Tip

Be as specific as possible about what defines your customer, using demographic and lifestyle descriptors. Narrowing your focus now will help you implement more effective marketing programs later.

What you need:

√ A thorough understanding of your product and the need it serves

√ All consumer research data that supports the marketability of your product

Questions to ask:

• How can I define the consumer group that is most likely to have the problem that my product addresses? How are these consumers similar?
• How might they be different?
• What personal characteristics would prompt someone to buy my product?
• Is the person who pays for my product the same person who actually uses my product?
• On what scale will my company distribute the product: locally, regionally, nationally, or globally?
• Will our distribution system limit our potential customer base?

The Example

KidsWorld users will be English-speaking children between the ages of 9 and 14 who have Internet access at home. KidsWorld purchasers will be financially stable parents who: 1) consider the Internet to be largely adult-oriented and 2) take an active role in their children’s education.