Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
 ==== ====Hi. This is one of the wordpress Plugins to have in 2012.http://wpsynit.com/?xyz=4 ==== ====Defining your main target market is the key to understanding how your business can deliver thegreatest value to your customers and prospects. You will serve your customers much better if youcan group them together by specific needs and wants. The best way to do this is to define your single primary target market. Then, depending on yourbusiness, you may need to define one or two secondary and/or niche markets. Definition of Markets & NichesYou'll find a lot of marketing books talking about defining your "niche." This can cause confusionas the terms "target market," "niche market," and "niche" are sometimes used interchangeably.For purposes of this module, I'd like to define these terms in order to avoid confusion. Target Market: Your target market is simply your main subset of customers that have a similar setof wants and needs. Even if you haven't fully defined these needs, you most likely have a verygood idea of your main target market. Your main target market may be large or small. The size isnot important, but your ability to define the needs of the customers within the market is critical. Secondary Market: A secondary market is a market that is related to your primary target market,but is not your main source of business revenue. A good example of this would be a roofingcompany that has the primary target market of commercial roof replacements. This company mayalso have a secondary market in residential roof repairs. However, because their primary revenuegrowth comes from commercial buildings, the residential work they do is considered secondary. Itmay not be as profitable as commercial work, but it's profitable enough to be considered asecondary market. Niche Market: A niche market is a group of potential customers that have a definable need that noone else is providing. Uncovering a niche market can be difficult. But, once you do, it can be veryprofitable. As an example, a cleaning service might uncover a niche opportunity in cleaning blinds.A graphic designer may decide there is a niche opportunity in creating just ebook covers. A nichemarket tends to be a small and definable need within an overall target market. Niche: A niche is simply the service or product you specialize in providing your target and nichemarkets. Your niche can be offered to your target market as well as any definable niche orsecondary markets. The easiest way to begin defining your primary, secondary and any possible niche markets is tolook at your past clients. Create a spreadsheet of past customers by creating column headings.You can start with customer name, business name, industry type, services and/or productspurchased, and total amount spent over a particular time period.
 
 If you're a business that mainly sells to other businesses, then your spreadsheet can also containcolumns related to industry, # of employees, revenue, business type and possibly geographiclocation. Look for Common PatternsAs you go through your data, look for common customer patterns that will allow you to startcreating definable data on your main target market as well as any secondary markets or nicheareas. Maybe you uncover a group of customers that tend to purchase low-cost impulse-type products.Maybe there is a certain niche segment where the buying process is long because all purchasesmust go through an approval committee. Looking for patterns like this will allow you to start grouping customers by different attributes.There is no right or wrong way to do this. Just work to uncover any patterns in the types ofcustomers that buy from you. Check Out Your CompetitionAnother good way to help define your primary and any secondary target markets is to check outyour competitor's website and brochures to see what customer groups they may be targeting. Thiscan also help define niche market segments that would most benefit from your company'sofferings. Ask yourself the following questions to really determine if you have a potential definable targetmarket. 1. Does this group of customers have a problem that my product or service solves?2. Am I able to differentiate my products and services from the competition in order to provideunique value to this group?3. Will this group be willing to pay full price for my products and/or services? Define Your Target MarketsRemember, a niche market is a just narrowly defined group of customers. Don't overcomplicatethe process. It's simply a way to partition your overall market into definable sub-markets. By looking at your customer data, you will want to write down and define the following three areas: 1. Main Target Market - You most likely already have a good idea of your main or primary targetmarket. Use your customer data to reinforce and further define this main category of customers.Remember, size of your main market is not important. What is important is that all the customersdefined in this group must have similar wants and needs. 2. Secondary Markets - As you look at your past customers, you may find you can group someinto their own areas. For example, a roofing company that targets commercial buildings may findthey have a secondary market in residential roof repairs. Don't force this however. It's fine to havea single narrowly-focused target market with no definable secondary markets. If you try to attackyour primary market as well as several secondary markets simultaneously, you may find you're
 
spreading your marketing efforts over too wide an area. 3. Niche Markets - This can be a difficult one to define. A niche market is a small segment ofcustomers that have a set of needs no one else is currently providing. As with secondary markets,don't force the creation of a niche area if nothing comes up in reviewing your customers. However,always be on the lookout for niche market opportunities. As you learn more about your customers,you may very well discover some great niche opportunities. Once you have defined your various markets, take a closer look and make sure they are alignedwith your business. If you can determine that a particular target segment has low profit potential,then you're better off dropping it as a definable market. It's better to focus on two or three marketareas that have a good profit potential than 5-6 with poor or mediocre potential. As your business grows and you add products and services to your portfolio, you will most likelydefine additional secondary and niche markets. As long as they are focused around a similar setof customers with similar needs, add them to your overall list of target markets. Here's an example of how a roofing business might define their target and niche markets. Primary Target Market: Industrial & Commercial BuildingsSecondary Target Markets: Residential Repair, Real Estate ManagersNiche Markets: Hospitals, Elementary Schools Defining your niche markets allows you to understand the very specific wants and needs of yourvarious customers. Developing relevant and compelling solutions to these needs is the key togrowing your small business. Corte Swearingen has been a marketing professional for 20 years and is the creator of a websitedevoted to Small Business Marketing. For more information on niche markets, see Finding aMarket Niche.  Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corte_Swearingen  ==== ====Hi. This is one of the wordpress Plugins to have in 2012.
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.
    • Notes
    Load more