In the current economic climate it’s more important than ever having a clearly defined target market. Too often we say: “Oh anyone that….”
Small businesses can effectively compete with large companies by targeting a niche market..

I was guilty of this generalisation until I was shown just how profitable ‘defining your market‘ really is. I was labouring under the:

“Everyone can use a free web directory with free article marketing and free event marketing can’t they?” syndrome!

Now however through experience I can say we have a very unique product so far as to say it’s been custom developed. Our USP’s are; we are the only business directory with Business artcicles and a business leads sourcing feature, you can’t get more unique than that!

You need to focus your marketing budget and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you, in my case this was the higher average order value client than other markets. This is a much more affordable, efficient, and effective way to reach potential clients and generate more business.

Top target marketing tips for nich markets

Look back at your current client base and ask yourself  why did they buy off you?
Perhaps it’s a good reason to offer to go back to meet them all as a free follow up for an hour, as long as they help you answer your questions about their buying habits especially when they bought off you. This may give you a chance for an up sell whilst you are there.

Who are your competitors targeting?  Try to concentrate on what they have missed, again Google keyword adword tool has a great system to tell you how people buy by testing key phrases and how many people are searching different keywords in your industry each  month, Google even tells you what phrases are high and low competition, perhaps you and your competition are missing a huge opportunity.

Making a FAB (Features and Benefits) list is an excellent exercise for new and experienced business people.

Write out a list of your business’s features, then write out the benefits and sub benefits of those features, then write out a list of industries whom need that feature because of the benefits they will offer.

Conduct your own Market research look over your clients and list them like so:

• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Income level
• Education level
• Marital or family status
• Occupation
• Ethnic background

Can you see a pattern? it may be staring you in the face!

Psycho graphics of Your Target

Consider the Psycho graphics of your market as in :

• Personality
• Attitudes
• Values
• Interests/hobbies
• Lifestyles
• Behaviour

Find out from this how they find, use and interact with your product or service, finding out where these particular potential clients go to, may prove very fruitful for your business.

When I was a salesman my most important question was:

What’s your company’s decision making process?

So it’s vital to ask:

• Are there enough people that fit my criteria?
• Will my target really benefit from my product/service? Will they see a need for it?
• Do I understand what drives my target to make decisions?
• Can they afford my product/service?
• Can I reach them with my message? Are they easily accessible?

Finding the balance is essential it’s a bit like starting out dating if you just , must have Kylie Minogue as your life partner, then you may be alone for some time, so don’t define it too rigidly. Remember you can have a few niche markets not just one, so if you can write down 50 potential clients per niche market ,that’s is a great place to start.

Blogs, forums, Office of National statistics et al, are all free places we all found our information on  target markets for our business loans and grants or just to research our businesses thoroughly before we started.

By doing this ground work first you will find you will save a lot of money on stamps , buying in databases, getting lousy returns from your telemarketing and email marketing, and your time just annoying everyone at the Everton football club networking event selling Luis Suarez photo frames!

Netmediauk Limited is an online marketing agency with 7 years digital marketing experience training companies and running effective online marketing campaigns.