For any businesses, big or small, finding its target market is fundamental. It helps the company focus its marketing. Trying to advertise to everyone is very expensive and not so effective. Businesses doing that might eventually face some problems. For example, a restaurant that advertises discounted beers and also advertises that kids eat free, is attracting two very different type of customers that does not go very well together. First, it will be attracting people that might be loud and use bad language because of the cheap beer. Secondly, it will be attracting families because of the kids eat free promotion. I strongly doubts parents would like their kids to see middle aged adults getting ‘‘lively’’. Furthermore, the restaurant will lose money invested in the kids eat free promotion due to a not so pleasant family experience; in other words, families could be reluctant to return to the restaurant. No one wants that to happen to their business.
 
It’s important to note that focusing on your target market does not necessarily means that other markets can’t buy your product or that you need to exclude them, it’s mostly to make your marketing investments much more efficient, affordable and of course, to get a better ROI (return on investment).
 
Ok, so now you ask me, how and where do I find my target market? First: 
 
Focus & analyze
Before doing anything else, look and study your business or product and ask yourself this simple question: who is the most likely to buy my product(s)/service(s)? Adults aged from 30 to 45 who lives in NY? Parents with more than one kid and that does more that 100k/year? Teens that own an iPod and that love rap music? Try to go in details as much as possible. I know it can be hard, for example, if you sell frozen fruits, many markets would be involved, but do your best and you will find that it’s easier than you thought.

What to target
There is many factors that can help you find your niche, and way more than the few listed above. Here’s a list to help you out.
 
-        Location
-        Age
-        Income
-        Gender
-        Education
-        Interests
-        Profession
-        Hobbies
-        Culture
-        Family status
-        Lifestyle
-        Personality
-        Values
-        And much more… 
 
Look at the competition
Look at whom your competitors are targeting. Who’s their customers? It will help you get an idea of who might be your market. It’s also a good idea to be a little different from your competitor and find a niche that might be under-served. 
 
Look inside
If your business is already established, who are your customers? What do they like and why do they use your service or product? If you have no idea, why not have a little chat with them so you get to know them better and so you know why they like your service/product.
 
Evaluate
Now that you think that you’ve found your target market, you must look at your product/service again and make sure it matches your market. For example, look if there is enough people in your market; you still want your message to reach an audience. Also make sure that your target market can afford your product or service and verify if your product goes with your market�s interest. One last thing, review the channels you are going to use to reach your market.
 
In conclusion, I really hope you found those tips useful. Of course, there is much more things you can do to find your target market and there’s also many ways to verify if you’re targeting the right one. Remember, it’s all about balance. If your target market contains everybody, that means your market is too wide and that you should narrow it more; on the other side, if your target market only has 50 people, you might have narrowed it a little too much, or it could mean that there’s no market to support your product/service. Also remember that you can have more than one market, but usually, you will need a different advertisement or message for each one. If you want to make sure your marketing matches your market, remember that Idealinput.com is launching soon (and I strongly encourage you to enter your email here to be one of the first to get access to Idealinput ). 
 
Good luck! 
 

And here is my question for today: What are your tips to make sure you are targeting the right market? Reply in the comment box below.