Marketing Fail: Undefined Target Market

When formulating a new business idea or plan, the most common thing that entrepreneurs tend to forget is defining the target market. This is mind boggling for me to even comprehend on why CEO's forget this sacred step in creating a business. The target market, otherwise known as your customers that are willing to buy your product or service, essentially is the reason that you are in business. If your target market is not defined, then it could cause confusion for yourself and the customers. Sure, your product or service may obviously portray your marketing messages, but your company and its revenue will be much more profitable if you knew exactly who you were targeting and why.

Say that you have a product that caters to multiple segments, such as shampoo. This is a great example, because everyone uses shampoo. Knowing who uses shampoo, and why will help you differentiate your product to better fit the needs of the consumer. In turn, this will assist you in creating the perfect marketing messages towards them. After defining your market, it will be much easier for you to tweak your message and communicate the benefits in a more efficient manner.

For example, women who desire hair that is voluminous, vibrant, stronger, shinier, and softer should be targeted differently than a man who just simply wants clean and thick hair. As you can see, these target markets have two complete different reasons on why they choose to use that particular shampoo. Therefore, knowing the desires of the different types of markets is an essential key for success. Crafting the marketing messages specifically for those targets is important for a product as simple as shampoo. In the end, do not forget to link the customers needs to the marketing action through three simple steps; segment, target, and position.