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How do you find where your target market hangs out?

minimegeologyminimegeology subscriber Posts: 26
edited July 2008 in Marketing
Hello Everyone!
 
Is there a service out there than can help you figure out how to reach your target market?  For example, if I wanted to target people over a certain income range or grandparents, but I am not in those categories, how would I figure out what magazines they read and which websites they surf for product ideas?
 
Thanks,
Tracy

Comments

  • daleyfla99daleyfla99 subscriber Posts: 1
    Write a profile of your ideal client.  I mean everything.  Size description, house, car, where they live, where they shop, what they do.  Then figure out how to get to them.  Put yourself in your customer`s shoes, totally, step out of your "wow, what a great product/service I have!" Your prospect doesn`t care how good you are until they get the answer to "What`s in it for me?"  When you have the answer to that question, then you have the answer to where to find your prospects.
     
    If you have a localized parenting magazine, that`s a great place to start for the grandparent target market, especially if what you have is appealing and the parents will show it to the grandparents and suggest they buy it.  AARP and localized senior magazines are also good sources as well as your local pennysaver tabloid.  Older people read those religiously.
     
    Your site has some great gift ideas, I would market to gift shops in your area to start. 
    daleyfla997/15/2008 5:16 PM
  • velocitycoachvelocitycoach subscriber Posts: 1
    Tracy,
     
    If you would like to provide and email address, I have a fun worksheet you can use to create your Niche Market.  Just let me know!
     
    Angela
  • JodyGabourieJodyGabourie subscriber Posts: 0


    Hi Tracy,




     


    What exactly is your target group?  Judging from the two websites, you probably have two different target groups.  Dale`s advice about flushing out the characteristics of your target group(s) is important.  It has to be more detailed than just their household income.

     


    You need to spend some time doing some research online.  Take a look at websites that are offering the similar products/service as you and try to figure out (looking at the words they`re using) what their target group looks like. 




     


    Search for magazines that your target group may read.  Just type into Search on your google toolbar - using a combination of words, ie.  magazines for grandparents, what do grandparents read, and so on. 




     


    Talk to people in your target group - in your neighbourhood, at your work, your rec centre, and so on.  You can find pretty well all the information you`ll need using the Search function on the internet!




     


    But to reiterate, your first step is to be very clear on who your target group is - and then it`s easy to figure out how to reach them!




     


    Good luck and happy searching!




     


    Jody




     


    Jody Gabourie The Small Business Marketing Coach



    www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com



     



     


     


     
  • aihanmiaihanmi subscriber Posts: 0
    Hey Tracy,
    I needed to do the same thing a few years ago.  I found a large nationwide business that catered to my target market (not a competitor but they sold hearing aids to seniors) and did two things: bought targeted mailing lists within 10 miles of several stores, and visited some of the stores locally to see what kinds of literature and messaging they had lying around.
    If you have big bucks you can pay a marketing firm for this stuff.  But if you are on a budget you may be able to use this approach.
    All the best,
    Matt
  • macwritermacwriter subscriber Posts: 0
    Determine your different audience segments and then determine which has greatest value to you in terms of likeliness to spend and be loyal, i.e. lifetime value.
    Media buyers for ad agencies use media buying guides which rate media in terms of telling them for example, how TV programs and magazines rank by usage in different categories-everything from macaroni and cheese to toothpaste to oil. I want to say it`s in their AC Nielsen guides, but that just may be for TV broadcast ratings.
    So let`s say the Travel Channel network programs rank high for your audience, then you know that`s one interest of theirs.
    If your audience is online, I know some neat  ideas for seeing what sites specific people are browsing by looking at their social bookmarking. Given only 25% of the US pop is using social bookmarks as of last year, not sure how many results you`d get there. If interested in that, reply back and I`ll explain the tactic.
    If you then need to buy lists, etc, or buy adwords ads with those keywords targeted, then move forward. I strongly suggest adwords ads (Google Adwords that is) for a lot of small online biz operations. You can launch a nationwide campaign in minutes for as little as the cost of a classified ad in a local paper. And best of all, you can measure results. If you do, remember, segment, qualify, measure and tweak. Then rinse and repeat. And of course, to measure, install Google analytics on every page of your site-no cost either, unless you don`t know how to paste code into your html pages.
    And if you do the Google content network, Google automatically determines where your ads can go (you can customize too) based on keyword selections-so it hits all the sites for you. The catch on the content network is you may have lower conversion rates than on the Search network ads due to more impulsive clicks/browsing.
    If what you`re marketing is a website put a + on every page for adding bookmarks, which if your audience is doing could create some extra online word of mouth for you. If they`re doing it a lot, it could create a lot of online word of mouth.And here`s a recent article on what the mature market does online, i.e. what exactly their habits are...http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629395
    Of course, don`t even do a thing until you calculate the lifetime value of a customer and then determine your cost per lead or cost per conversion. Otherwise you`ll drive yourself nuts wondering if your marketing is cost effective.
    Good luck.macwriter7/20/2008 10:42 AM
  • ProfessionalListsProfessionalLists subscriber Posts: 1


    Tracy
    :
     
    At Professional Lists we compile data in a database with "selects" age, income, zip code, phone number, credit score, presence of children, mortgage type, mortgage amount, etc...
     
    This lists are highly flexible and can provide you the target market you are looking for.  We provide contact information for these groups for marketing purposes. 
     
    Let me know if this is the kind of thing you are looking for. 
     
    Regards,

     

     
  • BobsBobs subscriber Posts: 0
    Tracy,
     
    ListOrbit can provide you marketing lists for your specific target market. If you want I can send few samples, detail count & pricing.
     
    Call me at my direct line 281-657-6719
     
    Thanks,
     
    Bob Snyder
    Business development coordinator
    281-657-6719
    bob.snyder@listorbit.net
  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member

    Hello Everyone!
     
    Is there a service out there than can help you figure out how to reach your target market?  For example, if I wanted to target people over a certain income range or grandparents, but I am not in those categories, how would I figure out what magazines they read and which websites they surf for product ideas?
     
    Thanks,
    Tracy

    Once you have clearly defined your target audience, deciding the optimum way to deliver your message to them is part art, part science and some "grunt" work.
    If you have already narrowed down your method to magazine advertising - every publication has information on the demographics of their readers. 
    The key is determining if /whether magazine advertising is the optimum way to get your message to your audience. Test marketing is one approach. If you go this route, be sure you have a sound system for measuring the results.
    In the past, I`ve used a qualitative research method to learn about a target market - with good results.
     
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