If you’re a smart business owner, then you’ll likely already be aware of what a target audience is and why it’s important for your business’s success. However, if you’re just getting started, you might be struggling with sales and planning a solid strategy to increase sales. A target audience can be defined as the demographic of people that are most likely to be interested in your goods or services. Being able to identify your target audience can help you plan a more efficient marketing strategy and appeal better to your core customers.
You don’t want to waste time, money, and resources trying to win over every consumer in your area. Defining a target audience allows for more intentional outreach and usually translates into a better return on investment. Let’s dive into tips for choosing the right target audience and increasing sales.
Your Guide To Choosing The Right Target Audience and Increasing Sales
Choosing the right target audience can help you advertise more efficiently because you’ll be able to identify them and know the ways to reach them. Though obviously, you want to reach as many people as possible, it pays to focus only on specific segments of the population. Specifically, you want to reach and appeal to consumers who will most likely buy from you.
If you can narrow down your audience and focus on directly reaching those interested in your products and services, you’ll ultimately end up with more money in your pocket. Therefore, we can conclude that before you decide on your message and which platforms you will use to deliver that message, you will need to first understand who will receive it. When you better understand who you’re addressing, you’ll be more likely to strike a personal chord, create lasting connections, and establish trust.
Choosing the right target audience may seem obvious, but many companies rush through it because “everyone can use the product” or the focus becomes the equally generic “CEO’s in Financial Services”. However, taking a more detailed approach and doing the research is probably the critical step in a successful sales campaign. Read on for a few things you should consider as you build your target audience.
Take A Look At Your Current Customers
The first thing you should do is take a hard look at your current customers. By seeing which customers bring in the most profit, are easy to work with, and are actually using the product, you can see patterns and the critical criteria that make them the right target to narrow your market.
One tip that always helps is to pick your three favorite customers. Do you have specific people in mind? Who are they? What do they do for a living? What does their family look like? Why did they buy from you in the first place?
It becomes much easier to identify a target market when you can draw from real people who currently buy or who have bought goods or services from you already.
Who Needs Your Products
Consider who has the need for your product. Examine industry verticals, key positions in the company, number of employees, company culture, geography, etc. Remember that not only should they have a need for your product or service, but also the budget to purchase it.
If you’re selling a product that only a small number of people in the world can afford, you likely don’t want to waste advertising dollars appealing to those who don’t have the means to buy it.
Who Are Your Competitors Targeting?
Another thing you can look at is your competitors. Are they missing a market you can take advantage of? This, of course, begs the following question of who/what your real competition is? What are they doing today to solve the problem your product or service addresses?
Business owners and marketing managers can learn a lot by researching key competitors and mimicking some of their efforts.
Do Some Research
Research! Find out what current surveys, studies, or blogs are saying about your product, service, or industry and who is interested in it. Better still, identify a couple of different segments and talk to a handful of prospects in each of those segments. They will tell you if you have anything that is compelling to them. If you can’t get them on the phone, go to segment conferences and events.
It might also pay to hire a consulting company with the tools to run some analytics and get accurate numbers on who is buying and where. They can help you get information on the best places to advertise and spend your hard-earned marketing dollars.
Narrow It Down
Be selective. Narrow down your target audience so that you have only those who would benefit today from your product or service. Remember, you can have more than one target audience, but be critical to assess if you have all the necessary resources to win in each.
As we mentioned earlier, it doesn’t pay to try to win over everyone. There aren’t many businesses out there that are needed or wanted by every person on the planet. Trying to appeal to everyone means your message is getting over-generalized, and you could lose out on customers who glazed over your campaign.
Track Your Results
Measure your results. Once you have chosen your target market, track your sales funnel to keep track of your success rate or lack thereof. You might need to make changes to your target audience if you are not getting the results planned.
Every industry has to adjust, and tracking your results will give you a leg up on choosing the right strategy to tweak and move forward with. With the technology and tools we have available today, no business should be plunging forward blind and without a solid plan in place.
Final Thoughts
Your goal is to narrow down your audience, so you address only those interested customers who have a current need for your product or service. If you cannot easily identify who is NOT your target audience, then go back and get more specific. Once you choose the right audience, you can select the right sales strategy to drive revenue from that group. If you want a cost-effective and scalable sales process, make sure you focus your sales efforts on the right audience.
In today’s business landscape, the art of sales isn’t enough to guarantee success. At Altus Alliance, we’ve developed the science that will give you the edge you need to succeed over your competitors. In addition, we will help you identify the right strategy for you and your business.
Are you looking for new market opportunities? Maybe you simply need to optimize your current processes. Whatever type of help you need, Altus is ready to help. Let us guide you through the next steps to ensure your sales and marketing organization is as efficient as possible. Our sales organization has the experience and resources you need to jump to the next level. Get in touch with us here.