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Improve Your Customer Reach Through Target Market Research

  • Susan Gilbert

    • Would you like to hone your customer reach strategies and find the most interested prospects for your business without a lot of guesswork?

    With a great target market research game plan, you can. You just need to find out who exactly your audience is and what matters to them the most.

    As you gain an understanding of what is best suited for your potential customers, you will be able to reach them in a more targeted way. It takes time to gather hard data about your audience, but the payoff is great.

    Once you discover more details about your target market your business can benefit in several ways:

    What type of data will you need?

    The best type of research includes both quantitative and qualitative data.

    According to Diffen, quantitative research is based on mathematical data, whereas qualitative research is based on written or spoken narratives.

    After this information is gathered, your business will also want to include psychographic data. This provides insights such as how people see themselves, how they use your products, their greatest fears, etc. Think of this process as a character profile for your customers.

    Your business will be able to gather this data from a number of online resources, including your

     

    Image courtesy Slideshare.net, Ken Burbary

    Become the problem solver for your market

    Good research allows your business to be able to pinpoint the exact answer to your audience’s needs, such as letting tired shoppers know that they can find the best deals at your online store instead. This offers a solution that they can relate to because it specifically addresses their needs and desires.

    You will soon find that you have developed a ‘tribe’ community based on common interests, which is further enhanced through your activity on your blog and on social media.

    While gathering the information, you need to improve your sales. Remember that your data can be objective, and is not an exact science. That’s simply due to the human factor and changing trends. As you develop your marketing strategy, you will be able to learn more about what your prospects like, what they think and what they want from a brand like yours.

    Your turn

    Are you ready to put this into practice? Here’s a short formula I’ve developed to help you along with a bit of creativity sprinkled on top:

    Using your favorite word processing or graphics program to develop your ideal customer — get as detailed as you’d like, including a name. Use this visual to really get to know what type of person they are what makes them tick.

    Next, write out a detailed description of your ideal client. What are their interests? Gender? Income? Cultural background? Where do they like to shop? You get the idea.

    This may seem like an over simplified method, but in reality the picture and description will help you “see” your prospects as you go into the hard work of data research as well as in writing your content. After this you will have a more complete visual of “the perfect customer” — those you know would make a purchase from your company.

    Do you have any comments regarding the above, or additional helpful hints you’d like to share? If so, please leave your comments below.

     

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    Susan Gilbert

    Founder and CEO at Online Promotion Success
    Online Marketing with Focus - Let Susan Guide you to Online Success. Especially loves to help Authors, Speakers, Coaches & Entrepreneurs. Susan Gilbert uses her laser focus knowledge to coach and provide online marketing and social sharing programs. Author and publisher of several books including “The Land of I Can,” and “KLOUT SCORE: Social Media Influence,” Susan combines online marketing with strategic thinking. Follow her Digital Marketing Tips at her blog: www.SusanGilbert.com