Today’s consumers have a lot of power. They can research your product or service and make purchase decisions entirely on their own. Rather than talking to one of your sales reps, they are more likely to ask for referrals from members of their networks or read online reviews.
With this in mind, have you adapted your marketing strategy to complement the way today’s consumers research, shop, and buy?
To do just that, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are, your specific market, and what influences the purchase decisions and behavior of your target audience members.
Only then will you be able to reach them with the right messages at the right time and in the right place.
To help you get started, we have put together a list of 8 key steps to conducting successful target market research:
1. Define your business objectives
Before you start your research, it is important to take a step back and think about what you hope to achieve. What are your business objectives? What goals do you want to accomplish with your marketing efforts?
By having a clear understanding of your goals, you will be better able to design research that will provide the insights you need to make informed decisions and drive results.
2. Identify your target market
Once you have a good understanding of your current customers, you can begin to identify your target market. Start by brainstorming a list of potential customer segments.
Then, using the information you have about your current customers, start to narrow down that list. Who are the most likely prospects? Who is most likely to need or want your product or service?
For instance, if you are looking to open a shop at a children’s sports center that will sell energy drinks and snacks, it will pay off to interview a few mothers who accompany their children. Asking them if they will likely purchase an energy drink right after they have played sports will give you some insight about your target market.
When such a shop opens, you will also be opening up delivery service for nearby customers. It would pay off to send surveys to different households in the neighborhood to see if they would be interested in ordering from this new mini restaurant. If yes, then what items would they prefer to be on the menu.
As discussed in the example above, while researching your target market you can make use of interviews and surveys. When conducting online surveys, you can choose from companies such as Attest and Surveymonkey. To help you decide which one to choose, here is an article comparing Attest and Surveymonkey.
3. Know your current customers
If you are an already existing business looking to launch a new line of product or service, a great place to start your research is by taking a close look at your current customers. Who are they? What do they do? What do they like? What do they need?
By understanding the characteristics of your current customers, you can begin to develop hypotheses about who else might be interested in your product or service. You can also use your current customer base to develop a new target market.
For example, if you own a pet store and most of your customers are young women, you might want to consider targeting older women as well.
Alternatively, if you are looking to start a business and want to conduct a target market research, it is better to analyze the current customers of your competition (more on this below.)
4. Develop buyer personas
Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers. They help you to understand your target market on a more personal level.
In this step, you should include information such as:
- Demographics: age, gender, location, income, education, etc.
- Psychographics: lifestyle, interests, values, attitudes, etc.
- Behavioral factors: online behavior, purchasing decisions, etc.
The more specific you can be when developing your buyer personas, the better. Once you have a good understanding of your target market, you can start to develop marketing messages that are tailored to them.
5. Identify your target market’s pain points
As you are conducting your research and developing your buyer personas, pay close attention to the pain points of your target market. What are the problems they are trying to solve? What are their biggest challenges?
The best way to do that is to engage in community groups where people discuss the problems in a particular product or explain the inconveniences they faced while using a service. For instance, Facebook has the following group known as “Voice of Customer”. Here people mainly post about their suggestions and complaints.
By keeping tabs on such groups, you can quickly identify the pain points of your target market and develop solutions accordingly.
By understanding the pain points of your target market, you can develop products and services that address their specific needs, and you can create marketing messages that speak to their pain points.
6. Understand your target market’s buying process
It is also important to understand how your target market makes purchasing decisions. What factors influence their decisions? What are the steps they take in the buying process?
Do they like to do a lot of research before making a purchase? Do they prefer to buy online or in-store? Do they like to read reviews?
By understanding the steps they take in the buying process, you can make sure that you align your marketing and sales efforts to meet their needs at each stage of the process.
7. Keep a close eye on industry trends
Even if you target a very specific niche of the market, it is likely that there is some other competitor who is also aiming at that audience. Closely following what your competitors are doing will help you prepare and build your strategies better than them.
In other words, if you want to stay ahead of the competition, it is important to stay up to date on industry trends.
- What are the latest trends in your industry?
- What are your competitors doing?
- How are competitors pricing their products or services?
- What are some of their strengths and weaknesses?
- What products or services are customers purchasing from them?
- Which social media platforms are they using to market their products or services?
By understanding what’s going on in the current market, you can make a better decision in positioning your products and services and whether they meet the needs of your target market or not.
8. Keep your research up to date
The contemporary era is a volatile one, with frequent changes in technology, trends, and consumer behavior. This means that the research you conduct today might become outdated within a few months or even weeks, especially if you are in an industry like fast fashion.
It is recommended to review and update your target market research at least once a year, or more frequently if there are major changes in your industry or market.
By conducting regular target market research, you can stay ahead of the competition and make sure that your marketing strategies are always relevant.
For instance, the latest trend in social media marketing is that young customers dig short form content. As a result, short videos on TikTok are a great way to get a high user reach and engagement.
Hence, it is important to keep your research up to date in order to make sure that your marketing strategies are also aligned with the latest developments.
Summing Up The Key Steps To A Successful Target Market Research
By following these steps, you will be well on your way to conducting successful target market research that will help you reach and convert your target audience.
When conducting market research, it is important to use a variety of methods in order to get a well-rounded picture of your target market.
As you are conducting your research, pay close attention to the needs and wants of your target market. What are their pain points? What do they hope to achieve? What motivates them?
By understanding the needs and wants of your target market, you can develop hypotheses about who might be interested in your product or service.
In this manner, you can better develop products and services that address their specific needs and wants, and you can create marketing messages that speak to their motivations.
Remember that as markets change, so do the needs of your target market. That’s why it is important to keep your research up to date. Conducting regular market research will help you to stay ahead of the curve and keep your finger on the pulse of your target market.
Author Bio:
Osama Zahid is a technology content strategist who is passionate about content marketing and all things SEO. He has helped various companies rank their content on the first page of search engines. In his free time, Osama loves to play football and travel.
