guest post: Finding Your Place – 9 Questions to Ask When Determining Your Target Market

Today’s guest post is from Rob Fortier.  He is sharing 9 essential questions for determining your target market.  Thanks, Rob!

Many people who start business create wonderful products that they themselves enjoy.  This is good. It is important to like your own product and have a good time creating it.  However, the question of what type of person will purchase their product is often overlooked.

You may be thinking, “Why does this matter?”  It matters because you are going to spend a considerable amount of time and money creating, advertising, marketing, blogging, and positioning your product for the world to buy.  But how do you know where to advertise if you don’t know who you should be advertising to?  If you are going after an audience that is unwilling to purchase or is not interested in purchasing your product, you’ve wasted a lot of your resources.

By determining your target market (the audience you envision purchasing your products) in advance, many other business factors will fall into place.  You will be better equipped to make decisions about advertising, marketing, product development, and even which types of stores to approach about carrying your line.

To get started, ask yourself, “Who is the customer that will buy my products?”

Here are 9 more questions you can use to help determine your target market.

1. How old and what gender are your customers? If your product is for brides-to-be between the ages of 22 and 40, your marketing strategy is going to be much different than if your product is for men over the age of 30 who enjoy camping and hiking.

2. What do your customers do for living? Are your products most useful to people who sit at desks all day and have tired backs?  Are they for people who work in cold or wet climates?

3. What is your customers’ income level? If you have a high-end product that not everyone can afford, that’s okay, but know that your product should be marketed to a specific audience.  If your product retails for $5, you have a completely different set of customers.

4. Where do your customers shop? If they only shop at craft fairs and brick and mortar stores, you may want to ease up on the online advertising.  If they only shop for gifts at boutiques, then selling your products through drug and grocery stores might not be so lucrative.

5. Who do your products appeal to? Your products might be aimed at babies, but babies don’t go shopping.  Those types of products would appeal to parents, grandparents, and people who know couples with children.

6. For what occasions would people be willing to purchase your product? Is it an everyday item that they might buy for personal use as well as a gift?  Is it only something for weddings and large events?  Can it only be used at certain times of the year, such as winter holidays or specific religious celebrations?

7. How much are my customers willing to spend? Some people are willing to spend $200 on a hand-knit sweater.  Others are content to spend $30 at the local discount store.  Get to know your customers’ buying habits.

8. How often do my customers buy products like mine? If you sell handmade soap, your customers may need to buy from you several times a year.  If you make leather wallets, they might buy 1 for personal use every few years.

9. Where do my customers live? If you make large or extremely fragile items, shipping might be an issue to consider.  Also, the people in Florida might not be as interested in your triple-layer mittens as our friends in Vermont will.

Take a look at other companies that sell similar products to yours.  Can you easily identify their target markets?  If you don’t have a lot of buyers or customers right now, type up an informal survey and email it to your family and friends.  Ask about their buying habits.  You may be surprised at some of the answers you receive.

Every successful product has an appeal factor to a specific audience.  Certain people will only purchase certain products, and there is nothing you can do about that. But if you can decide in advance who your target audience will be, you’ll be on your way to making a profit.

Here’s to your success!

Rob Fortier is the owner and creative director of Paper Words, a manufacturer of greeting cards and personalized stationery.  He has been featured in Greetings etc, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Art Buyer, Giftware News and Stationery Trends, and has appeared on the HGTV cable network.   He is the co-author of Pushing the Envelope: The Small Greeting Card Manufacturer’s Guide to Working with Sales Reps. Rob can be reached via www.CenterAisleGroup.com.