Suffice it to say that such a thing as brand loyalty has become rare and it is the job of a good marketer to understand what makes the mind of the consumer tick. The advent of new technology within our global culture has created a faster than light mentality toward information. From an advertising and PR standpoint, the main concern is that the customer be sent the correct information, at the correct time and in the correct format.
There must be an understanding of the customer and their needs. It is most important to understand the target audience. Essentially a marketing strategy is built around the core values, vision and objectives of the organization. In development of market strategy, one becomes aware that in order to have product, price, promotion or placement, the organization must have done its research on the market and the consumer need for its service. Without an understanding the targeted audience, the organization cannot market at all. It is important to work the product, its price, distribution and promotion around the needs of the people and of course, from there, work to persuade segments of the segment into wanting the product.
What many business people starting out really do not understand about marketing and understanding the average consumer is that more that likely the target is open to finding information about your product or service. It may be they are unaware the need is not satisfied yet but until the need is defined, they will not be receptive. They just need a little push in the right direction. Still it is your job and the purpose of the marketing strategy to define who should be looking for you.
Knowing your target audience is also eminent in developing your website. The variables that define your target audience also shape your site and how the search engines will guide potential clients to your virtual door.
Ask yourself these questions to help you better understand who your business is working for; your target audience:
1. Who does your product appeal to, and what are their general characteristics?
- Start out broad. General attributes to consider are your target audience’s age, sex, location, income level, and marital status.
2. What is their motivation for buying your product or services
- In short, what is your customer’s pain? Why do they so badly need you? The point is your product adds some sort of value to their lives. Figure out what that value is.
- Is your product something they need or something they want? Does having your product elevate their social status somehow? Does it make them feel better about themselves? Or is it something that merely entertains them?
3. How does your target audience shop? To best market to your ideal customer, you need to figure out their purchasing habits.
Do they tend to make impulse purchases, or are they more rational, logical consumers?
- Where do they shop? Online or in person?
- Are they loyal to particular brands or are they always susceptible to jump ship?
4. Where does your target audience congregate? In order to communicate with your target audience, you need to first know where they are.
- By knowing exactly where your target audience is, you can focus your marketing efforts into those areas so that you have a better chance of capturing their attention.
If your target audience is the teenage group, figure out which social networks and other websites they frequent most. Which type of physical establishments do they hang out in? Which TV and radio stations do they tune into? Which magazines do they read?
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Sources:
http://www.investorsloungeonline.com/blogs/How-Well-Do-You-Know-Your-Target-Audience-.html
http://www.seohosting.com/blog/uncategorized/marketing-basics-defining-your-target-audience/
Next, Turning Your Friends and Family Into A Focus Group!
Hey Jackie,
I’m very proud of you for pushing forward and creating this venue. It seems to getting a of hits and attention, which shows progress, great job!
I started reviewing the questions and I will complete them once I complete my homework for my online college course.
Let’s have a conversation soon so I can learn more about your mission.
Steve
Thank you, Steve. I thought you would have went through this exercise when you read the E-Myth
I realize it’s an exercise we need to do periodically throughout the life of our business.
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Everyone is talking about the cueosmnr’ in a way that sounds as if they are unreachable across the trenches. We in the trade talk to each other and stay inside a bit of a bubble which I believe is of our own making. Lets face it, wine consumption is dropping as wine production keeps increasing. Is your wine FMCG or a luxury product? Both? Neither? Most of the marketing of wines is pretty abysmal. Take the Hardy’s campaign in the UK at the moment Come Dine With Me. The programme is hilarious and the diners drink plenty of wine but none of it Hardys. That is very expensive advertising space and I think they have really missed a trick. TV food programmes are everywhere and very enjoyed by our elusive customers. Put the food and wines back together in a simple and fun way maybe
Jackie this is a wonderful blog! You are on point with the information sharing and precise questions and answers exercise that I too will be using… count me in I’m subscribing… but of course your work is always top notch! I like this and I thank God for trail blazers like you to help those out there working it out!
One
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Thanks, bet365. Go to the bottom of the blog and you will see the theme with a link. It’s called Structure.
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Thought provoking post — I’m very iteerestnd in this whole area. Apologies in advance for a huge comment Seems to me there’s a difficulty when consumers’ perceptions are confused between retailer and brand. I imagine many buyers of wine don’t even think about the *producer*. If asked, they might say that Tesco was the producer of their bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Because most people don’t really have any engagement with the producer, or even think about this.(Imagine a conversation at a dinner with friends. Oh, that’s a really nice Pinot Grigio — who’s is it?’ The answer to this is far more likely to be the name of the retailer ( It’s Sainsbury’s') than a producer.)So in a sense the brand owner has to *compete* against the retailer in order to differentiate his/her product from the powerful overreaching retail brand. That’s a big task when you’ve potentially got a very small budget and no in-house expertise. Plus no access to the powerful statistics/market research data available to the supermarkets. And the huge range available (as opposed to baked beans) erodes the chance of brand recognition/attachment/loyalty.Supermarkets obviously want to control the territory that separates consumer and producer. After all, as soon as consumers recognise a producer and start to love & demand that producer’s wine, the producer potentially has power to demand better prices from the supermarket. Producers need to be innovative and somewhat aggressive to prevent them from holding this territory.Question is, of course: how? Encouraging interaction via scannable barcodes on the label/urls to give feedback and suchlike have started to appear — more innovation in that realm seems to hold some potential. But there must be other ideas…
Why not simply produce your own ad campaign speaking as the producer straight to the consumer and letting them know they can find the brand in retail locations… Most liquors do it. You can visit Jack Daniels website. They do community work in the arts…