“My target audience is everyone.”
“I want to market far and wide—to everyone that will listen.”
“I have a general market.”
Over the last 17 years at JJR Marketing, we have heard these phrases from clients and prospects alike. Even though they might sound aspirational and inclusive, trying to appeal to everyone with your services or products is one of the worst things you can do for your go-to market strategy.
These approaches are like spraying and praying or throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.
It is certainly not the best approach. You might ask, “But why?”
For starters, it is very expensive to market to “everyone.” Marketing to “everyone” is, in truth, marketing to no one. The messages do not clearly resonate with the key audience you want to reach or, more specifically, the market you should be trying to reach.
Even more, resentment builds up as you achieve nothing, as there are no specific, trackable results from any particular audience. While there is a desire to see improvement, there is no sense of expectation since the key performance indicators (KPIs) are not clearly defined.
So, how does someone approach market segmentation and decide who their market truly is?
There are three key steps you should take to identify your target market, those people who need and will purchase your products or services.
Think of them as people
First, consider who these people could be and ask yourself some questions that take you into the realm of demographics, such as, what is important to them? What lifestyle do they have? What do they enjoy doing when not at work? Where do they hang out? Do they fall into a particular age group? Where do they live—urban, suburban, rural? Are they married? What could their ethnicity be? What level of education do they have?
Analyze your products
What problem(s) do your products or services solve? This will help you get a much clearer picture of who you should be attracting with your marketing efforts. That, in turn, helps guide where and how you market to them. When you do this, you may find yourself expanding on your first step and adding more detail to who they are and what they value.
Check out your competition
What are their products or services? How do they compare to yours? What are they charging? Who are they marketing to? How are they selling to them? What is your advantage? What do you do better? What will you do to stand out in the marketplace?
Now that you know a great deal more about who your target audience is, we can build a beautiful partnership that allows us to help you effectively reach them.
About JJR Marketing:
For thought leaders seeking breakthrough brand awareness, JJR is one of Chicago’s top marketing and public relations agencies. We practice accountability that leads to high-performance results, extra value that leads to an enjoyable relationship, and a passionate perspective that leads to explosive creativity. Every engagement is a mission to place a client’s brand in the center of their most influential media to create a buzz, leads, referrals, sales, growth, and, ultimately, loyal brand advocates. For more information about our work, visit: www.jjrmarketing.com