How To Choose A Targeting Strategy That Works
Introduction
As you may know, when you try to reach everyone with your message, you may end up reaching nobody. Where your message is vague or generic, your audience is less likely to connect with it. Thus, you need to know how to choose a targeting strategy that works.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What is Targeting Strategy?
- Importance of Having a Targeting Strategy
- Steps in Targeting Strategy
- The Role of the Buyer Persona in Targeting Strategy
- Types of Market Targeting Strategy
- How to Choose a Targeting Strategy That Works
- Tips To Execute Your Market Targeting Strategy
- To Wrap It Up
What is Targeting Strategy
Simply put, targeting strategy describes the selection of likely customers your business intends to sell products and services. Typically, targeting strategy involves a process of breaking down your market into smaller segments. Thereafter, you focus on a specific group within that audience segment. Above all, your choice of the segment depends on what value it is likely to bring to your business.
Importance Of Having A Targeting Strategy
Basically, your targeting strategy has an impact on the entirety of your business. This includes advertising, branding, customer experience, and even business operations. Here are some of the importance and benefits of a targeting strategy.
It provides direct reach to a defined audience
Certainly, your audience can resonate better with your message when they can relate directly to it. Your message has to be personalized for them. Furthermore, in order to create such personalized messages, you would have to narrow down the different segments of the audience you have.
It helps to attract and convert leads
Similarly, when you speak directly to a targeted audience, you become more effective. This means that you get to connect with the right people. Consequently, you are more likely to get high-quality leads. In turn, these qualified leads are more likely to become paying customers.
It helps in brand differentiation
Surely, you want your market audience to notice you. They are more likely to do that when you try reaching out to a focused audience. You end up standing out from competitors in your industry. More so, your customers can more easily identify your brand and unique selling points as compared with competitors who do not target well.
You can increase customer loyalty
Likewise, you do know that targeting also involves existing customers, right? Furthermore, when you connect with your customers through targeting strategy, you create longer-lasting relationships. Also, they will be loyal and act as referrals for you.
You create improved products and services
Likewise, in the process of forming a targeting strategy, you understand your customers better. As a result, you get insights on how to improve your offerings. More so, you understand what product or service features are more likely to better serve your customers.
It improves your business focus
Surely, your business has a vision. It has goals and objectives. Well, with a targeting strategy, you and your team are not likely to lose sight of that. Your marketing strategies and initiatives become more specific. Moreover, you can make better marketing plans for your business while optimizing your resources.
Steps in Targeting Strategy
First, you have to segment the market.
Types of market segmentation
Now, there are four major types of market segmentation. They are
- Demographic segmentation: This is done according to age, gender, marital status, education, race, religion, and so on.
- Psychographic segmentation: This is segmentation done using beliefs, values, interests, lifestyle, personality, and so on.
- Behavioral segmentation: Here, segmentation is done using data derived from brand interactions, purchasing habits, user status, and so on.
- Geographic Areas: This uses the physical location of the audience. It includes data describing the city, country, neighborhood, and so on.
Second, you choose the appropriate market segments.
Third, you have to match your products to each segment. For instance, if you offer multiple products, you can decide to match one generic product to various segments. Typically, this is done in mass marketing. Alternatively, you could match a customized product to each segment. In turn, this is typical in multi-segment marketing.
Furthermore, you could do the matching based on the criteria such as the market’s diversity, the level of competition, or the volume of sales expected.
The Role Of The Buyer Persona In Targeting Strategy
Ultimately, the whole process of your targeting strategy is based on building a clear and detailed buyer persona.
What is a buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a term for a semi-fictional character that you create to represent your ideal customer. It contains a summary of the customer’s characteristics, habits, and qualities. Clearly, having such a summary helps you create a better targeting strategy.
Ideally, your buyer persona should contain precise information. They include demographics, values and goals, challenges, professional roles, buying decisions, and so on. Surely, you do not pluck such data from the air. You need to do your audience research.
In addition, ways of performing audience research include using interviews, data analytics done on your website and point of sale systems, and social media listening,
Types Of Market Targeting Strategy
The type of market targeting strategy that businesses use falls into 4 major categories. They include the following:
1. Undifferentiated Marketing/Mass Marketing
Sometimes, this is referred to as mass marketing. An undifferentiated strategy is one that considers the entire market as a single target. In other words, it does not consider the differences between market segments. Everyone is seen as a potential customer and virtually no targeting is done.
Ultimately, mass marketing aims to connect with as many people as it can. For sure, one advantage of using this strategy is its cost-effectiveness. You manufacture goods and products that is meant for all.
For instance, if your brand has a product or service with a high market appeal, you can use mass marketing. That is to say, your people will always need or want your product. Examples of such products include tissue paper, furniture, and toothpaste.
However, consumers today increasingly want personalized experiences. So businesses who use this strategy need to watch out for increased competition and over-exposure.
2. Differentiated Marketing/Segmented Marketing
You can also refer to this strategy as ‘segmented’ marketing. Essentially, you isolate two or more primary target segments with utmost potential value for your business. Thereafter, you develop separate concentrated marketing strategies for each target. Consequently, your products are unique and consumers will more likely connect with them.
This is one of the most common types of market targeting strategy. An example is the sportswear brand Nike. They do not just advertise a single ‘trainers’ brand. Rather, Nike has product offers for different segments such as runners, golfers, cyclist, and so on.
Interestingly, segmented targeting offers certain advantages over undifferentiated targeting. You avoid over-exposure and can position your brand better against competitors. This is because your offerings are more personalized and focused.
3. Concentrated Marketing/Niche Marketing
Also called ‘niche marketing’, concentrated marketing helps you focus on narrow and specific consumer groups. Essentially, you differentiate your brand by channeling your marketing efforts towards a uniquely defined market segment. In the same vein, you work towards increasing brand loyalty and fostering long-lasting relationships with your niche market.
Surely, businesses using this strategy benefit from personalizing their brands for customers. Furthermore, the strategy reduces competition while narrowing down the segments of the population. What’s more, you can be more innovative, improve brand loyalty, and cut costs.
An example of a brand that uses a niche strategy is Dior. This is evident in its unique designs that the brand uses to differentiate itself. Other examples are luxury brands like Rolex and Armani.
However, the scope for growth is low. More so, you have a small market. Also, you may not be able to fully manage those who interact with your products.
4. Micromarketing
Here, you target a specific group, individuals, or niche market. It uses a focused targeting approach to appeal to specific characteristics of small groups or individuals. Consequently, micromarketing is sometimes defined as customized marketing or one-to-one marketing.
You make your customer’s tastes and wishes central in your strategy. Examples of micromarketing include Uber and Red Bull. Uber differentiated its brand by becoming visible in each city and expanding its customer base. Meanwhile, Red Bull used ‘youth’ interested in sports as a focused target audience.
How To Choose A Targeting Strategy That Works
Clearly, you have to figure out which market targeting strategy works best for your business. Besides, there is no single strategy that works best in every situation. Thankfully, there are factors you can consider that can help guide your choice.
Factors Affecting Choice Of Market Targeting Strategy
Here are some characteristics of your business that you should consider in choosing your market targeting strategy.
Available resources.
If your business has limited resources, you may opt for a concentrated market targeting strategy.
Product variability
How uniform are your products? Do they vary in design? You may use undifferentiated marketing for uniform products. Alternatively, you may use a more narrow differentiation for varied products such as cars or cameras.
Nature of the market
Perhaps, your buyers all have the same tastes. In that case, you may apply undifferentiated marketing.
Competitors’ benchmarking
What your competitors are doing matters. Using undifferentiated target marketing may prove fatal if your competitors largely use differentiated or concentrated market targeting strategies. However, you have to find out if your customers are better served using a different market targeting strategy from your competitors.
Tips To Execute Your Market Targeting Strategy
You can use the following tips and channels to implement in executing your market targeting strategy.
Use the right marketing communication
First, use the language of your audience in your marketing messages. This begins by knowing your audience intimately. Thereafter, you personify your content on your website, social media post in a way that resonates with your audience.
Use targeted content marketing
Second, do not create generic content that your audience may not notice. Rather, create valuable content targeting your audience’s unique interests, desires, and fears.
Increase visibility through SEO
Third, your ideal audience can find you more easily when you optimize your content (through Search Engine Optimization). Do this optimization by using the best keywords your audience likely search for. When you implement your targeting strategy in this way, you drive traffic back to your website.
Get quicker results with Paid Search
In addition, if you want quicker results, use paid search. This means that you will use buyer keywords identified from your research to target your audience at the purchasing or buying stage. More so, you will drive greater traffic to your website.
Use Email marketing to get more qualified leads
Remember, you can personalize your email content according to your buyer personae. Moreover, you can target the right content for the right stage in your sales funnel. Use emails to guide prospects and customers through the buyer’s journey.
Do Guest Blogging
Above all, content is king. This is true even on platforms outside your own. You can capture the attention of your ideal audience even on other sites. Use information from your audience research to search out strategic guest blogging opportunities. Then, perform guest blogging to place your brand before your target customers.
To Wrap It Up
In order to increase sales or meet your business goals, you need to understand customer behavior. Also, you should know how to choose a targeting strategy that works. This entails weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each strategy. In the end, you make it easier to reach your audiences in a more meaningful and personal way.
