How to Find your Target Market

In traditional marketing theory, choosing your target market would be primarily based on demographics, for example, gender, age, occupation, income, or location. However, given all that you now know about the wellness industry, combined with consumer trends and demand, we can and should also be considering the values and identity markets of our target market as well.

For example, your target audience might be vegan, they might be passionate about organic or non-GMO foods, they might value certain outcomes like athleticism or a sense of calm. These values can group people together in the same way that demographics do.

The biggest mistake you can make when thinking about the audience for your product or service is to assume that it’s for anyone and everyone. Whilst that might feel like a clever approach, where nobody is excluded and it’s a huge number of people, the challenge is that in being so general, you fail to resonate with people in a way that builds trust and loyalty.

When you identify a target market for your product or service, it does not necessarily mean that you will exclude others outside this group from purchasing your product or service, but it does allow you to focus your marketing budget and often limited resources on reaching a specific group of people. This means you’re more efficient and focused in your approach.

In choosing a target market, you might consider:

• What your competitors are doing: If you have competitors in the market, or have taken inspiration from an existing business, then perhaps you might look at who they are targeting. In doing so, it might be smart to go after either a similar audience OR a completely different niche audience.
• Who you are, if you’re an ideal user: Since a lot of businesses are born out of the founder’s own experience or frustration, you might consider what characteristics make you unique. In doing so, you will identify a particular niche audience. For example, if you’re passionate about a particular type of yoga, asking yourself ‘why’ could lead to a list of characteristics that you might look for in your defined target audience.
• The personality of your target audience: This includes the attitude, values, interests/hobbies, or behaviour of your target audience and how your product or service might fit into their lifestyle.

Once you have defined some of the key features of your target market, and why this group of people may buy your product or service, you might also ask yourself:

• “Are there enough of these people to consider this a sizable, scalable market? Meaning – are there enough people who will want to buy my product or service?”
• “What motivates these particular people to purchase and/or make decisions?”
• “How much will they be willing or able to pay for my product or service?”
• “How can I access them and educate them about this product or service?”

What do you think?

Are you the end-user for the product or service you have in mind?

If so, what are some of the values, attitudes, characteristics, behaviours, and interests that might define you as a target audience, that you could begin to look for in others?