StartupTalky

Tag: target market strategy

  • How to do Target Market Selection for Your Business?

    Every aspiring entrepreneur starts with a great idea, which can solve a burning problem. But many founders begin with launching a product without considering target marketing strategies. The target market represents a group of individuals who have similar needs, perceptions, and interests. If a significant number of users are not ready to pay for the problem they want to solve, this leads to a loss of money. Eventually, founders run out of resources and finally end up failing. So, here are some tips on target market selection.

    Target market selection is a part of marketing activities and comprises deep inquiry and analysis up to the corporate level. Target market analysis involves a process to recast and build something innovative to differentiate your business from others.

    An entrepreneur must ask himself, “ Is target market segmentation big enough to meet my sales goals yet not so massive I can’t target it?” Research has shown that 42% of startups fail because they didn’t find the right target market for their startup.

    So, finding your target market is one of the most important decisions that a business should take before actually starting its business.

    I think the mistake a lot of people make is to identify a target audience and then work backwards into creating a product for them. – Ricky Van Veen

    To find the target market you need to break it up into addressable market segments, this can help you to achieve your startup targets. The following ideas have helped entrepreneurs to find a target market for their startups.

    How to Find the Target Market for Your Startup

    What is "Target Market"
    Types of Target Market
    Focus on the "Crucial Customers"
    Find a segment for early momentum
    Take a hard look at the value differentiation
    Identify the demographics
    Identify prospects that care about the key differentiation the most
    How to recognize people with high affinity?

    What is a “Target Market”?

    A target market in general is people or a group of people who have the potential to buy your product or need your product. It is that segment of the market to which a business wants to sell its products. If a business knows what its target market is, it becomes easy for them to market its product.

    With the help of this information, the marketing team can create campaigns that are only focused on that segment of the market. Moreover, it helps the production team to better their product according to their target market’s needs.

    Types of Target Market

    Some of the most common types of the target market that a business focuses on are:

    Major Factors to Consider for Market Type
    • Gender-Based – Example: A cosmetic company would want to target females in their campaigns rather than include men and children.
    • Age-Based – Example: A toy company will focus to impress the kids with the products instead of impressing adults.
    • Location-Based – Example: A new local Pizza shop will advertise it in its town or city instead of promoting it all over the country.
    • Income-Based – Example: A luxury car brand always tries to promote its brand among people with high income whereas an economy car brand will come up with campaigns and offers focused on lower or middle-class people.

    Ingenious examples of Marketing Strategies | startuptalky
    ‌‌Marketing is, no doubt, the backbone of any company in the 21st Century. Andwhen it comes to big brands, they leave no stone unturned for it. They have avast research team to calculate the risks first. Then they have a separatemarketing department which is always on the go or may outsource it…
    StartupTalkyKaran suri

    So following are target marketing strategies to grow your customer base.

    1. Focus on the “Crucial Customers”

    Put your efforts into focusing on the most crucial customers that have the highest probability of purchasing. Before launching a product you need to analyze your target market, if you are an entrepreneur who wants to build a business that will not only solve a problem but also be profitable then you will go a long way, you have to interact with your target market.

    After choosing a target audience, talk to them, listen to them, and then observe those people to know if they are your potential customers. You are going to solve a problem that they are desperately looking for but you have to observe if they are willing to pay for the solution or not. Only after observing the target market, you should start working on solutions to their problems.

    You, as a new company, cannot build trust in people if you provide them with revolutionary solutions. So, come up with a solution that is not too extraordinary for people. However, at the same time, you should be able to translate it into a profitable business.

    “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”–Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam

    Before you start your business you have to ask some questions to yourself. These are:

    • “Whether the business can be scaled or not?”
    • “What is the size of your target market?”
    • “How many people can you possibly sell your product or How many people will probably buy your product?”
      And last but not the least
    • “At what price you should sell the product?”.

    2. Find a segment for the early momentum of business

    Focusing on a segment helps in building the early momentum of the business more easily. This involves awareness and word-of-mouth marketing that usually builds faster across like-minded groups, and success stories resonate well across a segment of similar prospects. This also requires complex and wide research on all aspects of the startups.

    target marketing strategies
    Market Segmentation

    Some of the great ways where you can start your research

    • Public Forums/Facebook Groups

    There are many online platforms are available now where people ask questions, share their problems, and share their ideas too. You can find insight into both your target market and also your competitors which can help to find a solution that people are looking for.

    You can join some Facebook Groups where people from your target market are actively involved, observe them for a while, listen to their conversation, understand their pain points, and ask questions. This will help you to understand the problem they are facing and also look for a solution.

    • Networking/ Events

    You can start building your network with the people from your target market and the people who are solving any burning problem for their target customers. This will help you not only to understand how you can find your target market but also you can learn a lot of things that will help you on your startup journey.

    You can also attend some live events, especially for startups, where you can meet with new people and also people from your target market. You can directly ask them questions if they are facing any problem or anything they want to make their life better.

    • Talking to friends & family

    This is not necessary that you have to find your target market from outside, there can be some problems your friends and family are facing which you can give them a solution for. There are many startups that started by solving a problem they faced by themselves.

    This will help you not only build a profitable business but also you can build trust immediately and it may help you to come up with an idea that is unique and can differentiate your business from others.

    3. Take a hard look at the value differentiation

    Always take a hard look at the value differentiation that can bring prospects for you. In other words, try to initiate the feature that makes the business different and makes it stand out. Many aspiring entrepreneurs get it wrong, they think that an idea is already working, and if the business is doing well then it can bring a large number of customers for them also and they simply copy the business idea and try to modify the business model. It will be profitable for a short period but you will not be able to build a business in the long run.

    If you want to be an entrepreneur and build an empire, then you have to use your creativity and come up with a solution that will differentiate your startup from the other companies and can bring you a large number of prospects.

    4. Identify the Demographics

    It’s very important to ask yourself whom should you market to and how you most efficiently reach them. This will include identifying the age, gender, geographic location, occupation, socioeconomic status, and other demographic and psychographic traits of the consumers who would be most interested in purchasing your product or service. The key is to identify a niche target market and go after market share aggressively.

    5. Identify prospects that care about the key differentiation the most

    When looking across the broader market, some prospects will say, “Yeah, the stuff is cool!!”, but others will jump out of their chair and yell “that’s amazing!! I need that right now.” In this case, always target the second group as they will be the easiest to sell to.

    You are building a business not just to solve a problem but to make a profit too. So you have to identify whether the people are ready to pay for the solution or not. Many startups end up wasting their money on marketing and strategies without identifying the target audience first. So if you want to scale your business you have to find the right target customer who will care about your solution.

    Now you may have this question in mind:

    How do I recognize people that have a high affinity for my offering?

    The target group that has a high affinity to the products being offered could be a certain company, in a certain vertical market, in a certain geography or they might be consumers that already own a particular product and also have some hobbies which are somehow related to your business.

    This is where entrepreneurs need to get super specific about targeting these groups. Start asking questions like

    • “What is the smallest business that loves this stuff?”
    • “Do product businesses love it more than services businesses?”
    • “Which location (urban or rural) do they love most?”
    • “Is there a certain type of small business owner that loves it more? Why?”

    The segmentation will depend on the entrepreneur’s ability to be able to identify the characteristics of an ideal, easy-to-close prospect. If you can find the right people that have a high affinity in your niche then definitely you will be able to close the sale.

    These points would certainly help in bringing profit to the company and increasing your customer base. What strategies are you following to define your target market?

    FAQs

    What are the 5 steps in starting a target market business?

    1. Shortlisting Ideas.
    2. Picking the right idea.
    3. Planning and building your Most Valued Product or Service.
    4. Pricing your product or service.
    5. Releasing your product or service.

    Why target selection is an important factor?

    It helps you to determine and focus on a particular audience or type of product and service. It also helps with less spending on customer acquisitions.

    What is the definition of target selection strategy?

    It is a strategy applied by companies and startups to start their businesses with products or services for identified markets.

    What is a target market example?

    For example, a toy company for children, a make-up company for women, and any company that makes winter apparel.

    How is the Purpose of a Target Market important for any business?

    When companies identify a target market, then they can influence product or service design. Market strategy can also be enhanced.

  • Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing | What’s Best for Your Business?

    Marketers adopt countless ways of marketing and creating brand awareness for businesses. Two of the most common and effective methods of achieving marketing goals are social media marketing and email marketing. Both are wondrous in their ways. According to Statista, there were around 4.1 billion email users and around 3.78 billion social media users worldwide as of 2021. This number forms around 48% of the total world’s population.

    Social media is gaining popularity day by day. But, at the same time, we can’t oversee the influence of emails on its users for trade. Now the question is which is better? Which of the two can have a greater impact on the target audience? You will get the answer to all of your queries in this article. So, let’s start this battle of Social Media Marketing vs Email Marketing.

    What is Email Marketing?
    What is Social Media Marketing?
    Social Media Marketing vs Email Marketing
    How Can You Effectively Combine Email and Social Media Marketing?

    What is Email Marketing?

    Email marketing is a kind of digital marketing that uses emails to create brand awareness. It puts forward the latest services, products, offerings, discounts, and everything among the users to make them aware and remember the brand. Some of the benefits of email marketing include:

    • It assists in building and enhancing the customer experience.
    • It makes for a profitable strategy to reach the audience emotionally through personalized emails.
    • One can save a lot of time in this marketing strategy via its automation feature.
    • It is measurable, hence one can measure the growth of a marketing campaign via web analytics in order to get accurate data.
    Number of email users worldwide from 2017 to 2022
    Number of email users worldwide from 2017 to 2022

    Industries Benefited from Email Marketing

    A Snovio labs study reveals that 72% of customers belonging to business communication prefer emails over social media. Here are some of the industries that enjoy the benefits of email marketing:

    Automotive

    This is the foremost industry that boosts its sales via email marketing. With email marketing, it becomes easy to track customers’ choices. One can obtain a huge amount of profit in a single purchase. Email marketing is used by the industry to share about new models, sell insurances, and more. Thus, the automotive industry is one of the most benefitted from email marketing.

    Pharmaceutical

    A survey in which 4000 physicians took part revealed that only one-third of physicians use social media channels. Doctors usually don’t spend their time on social media, and that’s why the pharmaceutical sector performs its marketing via emails.

    The following are some of the examples of top companies that use email marketing for their success:

    • Airbnb
    • Uber
    • Bonobos
    • Cook Smarts
    • Kate Spade
    • Litmus
    • BuzzFeed
    • PayPal
    • Drift

    Top 10 Best Email Tracking Tools and Software 2022
    Want to track your emails? but can’t find any reliable email tracking software. Here are some of the best email tracking software to use in 2022.
    StartupTalkyAbinaya Arangarajan

    What is Social Media Marketing?

    Social media marketing refers to the promotion of services and products by using social media platforms. It is the most exciting and powerful way to reach new targeted customers from all over the globe. Some of the benefits of social media marketing include:

    • One can connect with the audience related to the business worldwide.
    • By creating effective posts and stories, one can drive more sales to one’s website.
    • It helps convert the new audiences into customers, thus increasing conversion rates.
    • It leads to enhanced search engine rankings, which ultimately contributes to a brand’s popularity.
    Number of social network users worldwide from 2017 to 2022
    Number of social network users worldwide from 2017 to 2022

    Industries Benefited from Social Media Marketing

    According to a study published on BarnRaisers, around 92% of total customers trust social media instead of any other form of advertising. Here are the industries that benefited the most from social media marketing:

    Entertainment

    The entertainment industry has the biggest share of social media marketing in comparison to any other industry. As per a report, 63.2℅ of all the posts on Facebook belong to the entertainment sector. These sectors include telecom, retail, financial services, beverage, and food. Instagram is one of the best examples of entertainment sections generating a handsome revenue.

    Retail

    The retail sector comes in the second position after entertainment which has benefited from social media marketing. Live sessions or chatboxes on Instagram or Facebook are famous examples. It also assists in displaying features of products and services which is great for the retail startups in today’s time. Moreover, the positive feedback from the customers on social media works like word of mouth which attracts more customers.

    Real Estate

    A study according to a real estate website states that 44% of customers become successful in obtaining new clients for their properties from social media. Brokers, agents, property managers, and developers all belonging to the real estate industry, utilize social media for their marketing. With social media, it becomes pretty easy to showcase the features of properties in dynamic ways.

    The following are some of the examples of top companies that use social media marketing for their success:

    • GoPro
    • Nike
    • Spotify
    • Wayfair
    • Pop-Tarts
    • National Geographic
    • Starbucks
    • Dove
    • Wendy’s

    Best Social Media Business Ideas: Start Engaging People
    Social media business ideas are the career option which involves the engagement of a large mass. The more people, the more you earn.
    StartupTalkyBaishali Das Adhikari

    Social Media Marketing vs Email Marketing

    In the following points, we will discuss which is better among email and social media marketing from different perspectives:

    Which is Effective in Reaching The Target Audience?

    According to OptiMonster 2020, around 99% of email users check their mailbox every day. Some people even check their emails around 20 times in a single day.
    On the other hand, the community that opens up social media first thing in the morning is more likely to use it for personal purposes. So, basically during the workdays, people are more likely to check their emails first rather than their social media.

    When it comes to targeting, every business wants to capture its target market to be successful. When you indulge your business in paid social media advertisements, you get to select who sees it to a certain extent. However, in the case of organic advertisements, you do not get control over who sees it and who doesn’t. On contrary, with email marketing, you can segment the entire list of your target audience to gain the best results. As emails will help you reach the target audience better, email marketing seems to be a winner here.

    Which Has The Better Return On Investment (ROI)?

    The return on investment(ROI) refers to the measurement of profit after some investment or comparison of revenue of various investments at a particular time. According to DMA 2019, one can get a return of around £42 for just a pound worth of investment in email marketing.

    On the other hand, as per the study published in Forbes, around 6% of marketers could execute customer relationship management on social media, while 56% of them were still in the planning stage of how to achieve it. The fact is that social media ROI can be fruitful only if you are super-viral among a few channels. So, the chances of obtaining satisfactory returns decrease on social media. Hence, email marketing is the winner in this case.

    Which Can Attract New Audiences Better?

    Although email marketing has a huge user base as compared to social media, when it comes to reaching new audiences, it is hard to acquire them through it. This is because social media has no limits. You must have seen several channels, specifically Instagram and Facebook with a lot of supporters, this makes it a great source for new audience attraction.

    If you provide insightful and useful services and products to the consumers, then they will share them on their social media which will directly lead to increased traffic on your brand channels. You can achieve wonders in your business once your posts can start getting viral. Creating more sponsored advertisements for your products is another way to reach new audiences. Thus, this is the field where social media marketing seems to win the battle.

    How Can You Effectively Combine Email and Social Media Marketing?

    Impact of social media on email marketing in India in 2021
    Impact of social media on email marketing in India in 2021

    Now when both kinds of marketing have their pros and cons, what if we combine both and extract the only pros from these forms of marketing. So, here are how you can effectively combine email and social  media marketing for your business’s success:

    • Reuse the content on both channels. It will save your time and is also cost-effective.
    • Generate a similar content calendar for both the channels and adopt a parallel content strategy for both platforms.
    • Use social media to collect emails from your brand’s audience. Add call to action buttons to the social media posts which further lead the user to enter an email so that the brand can proceed with email marketing.
    • Organize engaging contests or giveaways on social media and collect emails from users. For instance, you can ask the users to provide a tagline for your brand and in return, you can give some prize. This will intact your brand in users’ minds and create audience engagement too while participating in contests.
    • While getting positive responses from social media about the channels, you can send feedback in emails that will lead you to convert your audience into customers.

    Conclusion

    Here the battle between social media marketing and email marketing ends. What we observed is that the preference for email marketing is still alive from various perspectives. But we can’t oversee the gaining popularity of social media day by day where around 3.96 billion users reside.

    So, the best thing for businesses is to combine their social media and emails and market their products and services accordingly to maximize their chances of success.

    FAQs

    What is the difference between email marketing and social media marketing?

    Email marketing focuses on customer relationship strengthening whereas social media is more focused on attracting new potential customers.

    Is email marketing better than social media marketing?

    As per overall performance, email marketing does perform better than social media marketing due to the huge amount of email users and better opening rate.

    What are the advantages of email marketing?

    Advantages of email marketing include:

    • Improving Sales
    • Collecting feedback
    • Reaching the right people at the right time
    • Traffic generation for your website
    • Increasing leads

    Which is the biggest social media platform for business?

    Facebook with over 2.9 billion users is the biggest social media platform for business.