Four Simple Ways to Understand Your Target Market

To attract your ideal clients and create a targeted internet marketing strategy, you have to really understand your target market. What are their challenges, needs, desires, frustrations, preferred method of learning, etc..  Many people get overwhelmed with this research.  I want to help you avoid that.

Here are four simple ways you can get the information you need about your target market.

Interview your target market
You can do one on one interviews as well as surveys. A really easy tool to do surveys online is www.surveymonkey.com. Whether you’re doing an interview or a survey, the key is to focus on people who are in your target market. Where do you find people to survey? Here are some ideas: your clients, people on your email list, discussion groups and forums aimed at your target market, and people you meet on social media. One of my clients even handed out a survey at a live event he attended. You’ll be amazed at what you discover. It’s a good idea to offer an incentive to people for completing your survey. That incentive can be the survey results, a free report, the chance to win a free program or coaching session, etc.

Immerse yourself in the target market
Find groups (e.g. Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn) where your target market hangs out, as well as discussion groups and forums aimed at your niche. To find these groups, just Google “your topic” “discussion group”.

For instance, if your niche relates to boomer health, then go to www.google.com and type in “boomer health” “discussion group”. You can also find relevant groups by going to Facebook and LinkedIn and searching under “groups” for your keywords.

Once you find these groups, lurk and observe. What are their concerns, challenges, questions, needs?

This information is valuable for understanding your target market and will be a great resource once you’re ready to launch into marketing mode. Remember to always add value in these discussion groups – educate, don’t sell!

Assess the competition
Discover what your competitors are doing to serve and attract this niche. Subscribe to their newsletters. Create a folder in your inbox to keep things organized and bookmark their sites in a special folder.

Make sure you look at their products and services. Review their blog posts and provide value-driven comments where you can. Which topics generate the most interest?

Keyword research
You must know the search terms your target market is using. You want to use these keywords in your content to help drive traffic. I highly recommend Market Samurai as a keyword search tool.

Doing this research takes time but it’s really important.  You need to understand how to connect with your target market, how and where to reach them, what kinds of products and services will best meet their needs, and how you can differentiate yourself so you stand out from everyone else. All of this information is critical to developing a successful targeted internet marketing strategy.