Posted on: 22 November, 2001
Author: Bob Osgoodby
... your target market is one of the things you ... learned in ... 101, no matter what school ... Many of us attend the "School of Hard ... if you don't learn it Identifying your target market is one of the things you shouldhave learned in Marketing 101, no matter what school youattended. Many of us attend the "School of Hard Knocks",and if you don't learn it there, you probably never will besuccessful in your marketing efforts.Now let's think a little. Would you really try to sell summerclothing in the middle of the winter? Not many people would.Why? There is little if any market for summer clothes inthe winter.How about winter coats in the Bahamas - sure an occasional "snowbird" might buy one, or a Bahamian, who was travelling north.But to open a store that sold nothing but winter clothing thereshould not be on the top of your priority list.Why is the answer to both of the above no? Simple - they don'tmatch your target market. Your target market should consist ofpeople who not only need your product or service, but also havethe wherewithal to pay for it.Does the Internet have this same requirement? Sure - while theInternet is worldwide and covers most of the globe, it isprobably more important to find your target market there thananyplace else.Most places you might advertise in don't have detaileddemographics on their visitors or readers. Some companies aretrying to get this information, but it is a long uphill battle asmost people are unwilling to give out personal information on theweb.This is one instance where you have to use some common sense.While you may not have detailed demographics available, there aresome things you can do to sharpen the focus a bit. If you wereselling a health product geared toward older people, you canautomatically rule out the "kiddie sites" or ones that appealto a young crowd such as the sites where you download free music.Web Sites or Newsletters that specialize in humor are normally a"no-no" as the grind of getting two or three jokes out a day,will guarantee that they will publish some that will offendsomebody. It is also one of the least targeted. Don't get mewrong here. Humor has its place as long as it is in good taste,is not offensive, and is part of a publication that reaches aspecific group.So, using some common sense, you identify either some web siteswhere you can place an ad, or a newsletter that appears to caterto your potential client base.The next step is tracking your results. This is where manybudding entrepreneurs miss the boat. There are a number of waysto track where your inquiries are coming from. Probably theeasiest is to give an email address which is unique to that ad.If you have your own domain, you most likely have unlimitedaliases that all come to the same email address. AOL gives youmultiple email addresses, and if all else fails, get yourself asupply of free email addresses.You can also use the web to help in your tracking. Designing aunique form, which sends you an email for each ad someoneresponds to, is not an overwhelming task. You can build akeyword right into the form, that the person filling it out willnever see, that lets you know exactly where they saw the ad.Newsletters are a good choice. If a newsletter has been aroundfor awhile, and has a decent number of subscribers, they aredoing something right. If your ad is not pulling, odds areeither you are in the wrong target market, or have a crummy ad.The first mistake someone might make is confusing subscriberswith potential customers. One newsletter with 500,000subscribers may produce minimal results, while another with onlya thousand or so, may produce a lot. Here is where you have todetermine if the newsletter you are considering is reaching yourtarget market. If it is, and you have a decent product orservice, which is affordable to those you are trying to reach,you will do business. Article Tags: Target Market Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com