A Guide to Target Markets (& Why They Aren't Just for Marketers)

销售量teams and entrepreneurs need to know their customers. You have to ask yourself,“谁是我提供的理想选择？他们的利益和优先事项是什么？”Answering these questions can help you prioritize the deals you're most likely to win. But how do you find a target market and what exactly is it anyway?

让我们仔细研究目标市场是什么，仔细研究如何进行目标市场分析，查看一些有用的示例，审查目标市场细分，并研究销售团队如何利用目标市场。

假设您已经创建了一个B2B软件产品thbob电竞官方下载at helps remote construction teams. In that case (and shockingly enough), you'd probably focus on companies within the construction industry. But defining your target market doesn't stop there.

You know your industry, but there's noone-size-fits-allmold for the businesses within it. If you were pinning down a target market for your product, you'd have to start with business characteristics — scale would be a good place to begin.

Your product will suit certain companies better than others, and selling to a Fortune 1000 company isn't the same as a small construction outfit with less than 100 employees.

In this case, you'd want to pin down what the size of your ideal customer's business is — that would be the start of a target market analysis. Let's take a closer look at what that process looks like.

As the name implies, target market analysis is the basis for identifying your target market. Here are the steps you can take to do one of your own.

1.分析您的产品或服务。

看看您要出售的内容，以便您了解哪些消费者将从您的产品中获得价值。以下问题将有助于集思广益的过程：

• "What need does your product or service fill?"

• "Are there any problems or pain points it solves for?"

• "Who would benefit most from your product or service?"

Once you've answered these questions, you might want to consider getting feedback from current customers. Conduct a focus group or ask your service department what the common problems are.

以这种方式分析产品或服务将有助于您更好地了解目标市场。实际上，您可能会发现您当前的客户不是您要针对的人。如果您在此过程中注意到断开连接，则需要更好地将目标市场与实际营销目标保持一致，以便您可以重新调整。

2. Check out the competition.

Perform an analysis of your competitors to see who they're targeting. Take a look at their customer base, and see if you can find an area of the market you could focus on that they might be missing.

最好的方法是进行competitive analysis。您将进行研究以找出您的竞争对手是谁，看看他们提供的东西，甚至审查他们的销售策略。

查看竞争对手甚至可以帮助您确定可以填补的目标市场差距。他们没有关注目标市场吗？

这可能会导致您从地理上扩展到新市场，或开发新产品以针对不同的市场。

3. Choose criteria to segment by.

目标市场可以通过一些不同的变量进行细分。消费者可以通过人口统计，地理和行为因素分开。

从本质上讲，这是创建一个的过程买方角色。您将使目标市场分为几个目标客户 - 也称为（您猜对了）买方角色。

例如,也许你的目标市场是中型d companies looking to purchase marketing automation software. You could divide your target customers into several groups including marketing department leaders, sales leaders, founders, or CEOs.

Here are some of the most common ways to segment a target market:

• Age
• 性别
• Income
• Location
• 行为
• 生活方式
• Values
• Interests

4.进行研究。

当您开始缩小市场范围时，是时候进一步研究了。您应该使用哪些营销策略来达到潜在的目标市场？目标市场是否足够容纳您的产品或服务？市场调查will help you learn more about your target market.

Picking the right target market can tell you a great deal about your business. Are you looking to become a true velocity business, or do you see yourself as a steadier flow of pipeline with enterprises and consumers?

5.跟踪和评估您的结果。

Target market analysis should never be static — you don't just conduct one, be immediately content with the results, and stop there. It's an ongoing process. You need to continuously track your results, evaluate what you see, and iterate on your conception of your target market to more effectively appeal to it.

Target Market Analysis Example

Let's imagine a company that sells inexpensive, "function-over-form" athletic footwear that stresses comfort and arch support instead of trendy aesthetics.

1.分析产品或服务。

在进行目标市场分析时，所讨论的业务必须从彻底，客观地研究其产品开始，以牢固地掌握其价值和区分因素。

该公司很bob全站app可能会发现其鞋子更适合日常穿着，而不是合法的运动比赛，缺乏时尚的吸引力，并且可以在站立时帮助应对脚痛。

这种最初的见解可以帮助塑造公司最终目标的角色。bob全站app它可以更好地了解如何构建其价值主张。在这种情况下，该企业可能会发现50岁以上的郊区男性不经常运动似乎是最有可能购买鞋子的男性。

2. Check out the competition.

Next, the company would dig into its competition's products, how they were selling them, and any observable gaps in their potential target markets. After conducting a competitive analysis, the company might find that its competition was ignoring some geographical trends embedded in their target markets.

Let's say its competitors' retail locations and store placements were primarily in cities — ignoring locations like suburban strip malls and local "mom and pop" retail stores. With that information in mind, the company in question could have a starting point for appealing to a target market its competition is ignoring.

3. Choose a criteria to segment by.

Here, the company would begin to string more detailed personas together. Again, it would base its segmentation criteria on its product analysis and refine it according to its competitive analysis.

在这种情况下，标准的很大一部分将围绕年龄，社会阶层，位置和兴趣围绕 - 使其年龄较大的角色之一，工人阶级，郊区消费者优先于形式。

4.进行研究。

在创建目标角色之后，该公司将进行市场分析，调查适合其目标市场账单的消费者，可能bob全站app采用更直接的策略，例如主持焦点小组，并采取任何其他步伐，以确保其对其有透彻的了解它的目标消费者以及使他们打勾的原因。

从那里,它可以塑造一个深思熟虑的价值提议ition that will guide its sales messaging, outreach strategies, pricing structure, and other crucial sales-related factors that will shape how it reaches consumers and capitalizes on their potential interest.

5. Track and evaluate results.

Once the other steps of the analysis have been covered, the company would continue to monitor how its efforts are resonating with its target persona. If sales aren't where they need to be — or it appears as though the company might have other personas it can cater to — it might restart this process and shift gears on its messaging, strategies, or target market as a whole.

Let's take a look at some of the best-in-class companies — both B2C and B2B — to see how they set up their target markets.

Target Market Examples

1. Atlassian目标市场

阿特拉斯利亚人提供一套协作工具，旨在帮助开发人员和产品负责人从概念到完成。快速看他们”顾客" page and you'll see it operates in several industries.

阿特拉斯利亚人— like most larger companies — uses target market segmentation to look at different markets and break up its unique value propositions, terminology, and values.

By diving into one segment, like retail, we see they're working with several large companies — especially with their support-related products.

This tells us that while Atlassian can work with almost anyone doing software development, it recognizes how its value proposition changes depending on the market segment in question.

即使是两种不同客户类型的同一产品也会产生不同的价值级别。

2. Nike Target Market

耐克为想要定期运动的运动员和其他消费者提供产品。他们提供服装，设备，鞋子和配件。

They work with athletes and a fitness-minded audience, but we know a good target market definition can't be that broad. Let's break two of their segments down:

• 年轻运动员- 经常运动和参加体育运动的孩子对于耐克来说是一个巨大的成长类别。耐克通过体育联赛和协会与这个市场交往，并与勒布朗·詹姆斯这样的受欢迎体育明星的认可。
• Runners— With a focus on new types of shoes, Nike shows it targets consumers based on both demographic information and lifestyle. Nike launches shoes and apparel designed to help the avid runner stay on the road a bit longer.

3. Starbucks Target Market

Next time you're sipping your cold foam Cascara cold brew, ponder the target market of the top coffee destination in town:Starbucks。

他们的许多位置都经过改建，并提供了当代的臀部。不足为奇，因为大约一半的客户在25至40岁之间。

如果您花了五分钟以上坐着喝咖啡，您可能会听到咖啡师的喊叫“移动订单”。现在的移动流程说明星巴克交易的24％这表明他们正在迎合精通技术的人群。

我们在目标市场上拥有的下一个线索是商店的位置。通过将其位置定位在繁重的城市地区，星巴克正在吸引随时随地的专业人员。回顾一下，这是星巴克的一些目标市场：

• 25-40岁— Remodeled locations accommodate their largest demographic base.
• 精通技术的成年人- 他们的移动应用程序陷入了困境，并将自己借给了一个有思想的人群。
• 工作专业人员— Their urban focus tells us the type of lifestyle they're catering to.

4. Apple Target Market

What about a company that occupies both the B2B and B2C spaces? How can it develop a target market with such a broad set of customers? Apple is the textbook case for innovation and product design.

But how does that apply to finding a target market? With their wide array of product offerings, Apple has a little something for everyone. Here are two of their target markets:

• Technology enthusiasts— A customer category that launched their brand decades ago, technology enthusiasts still get attention from Apple. With launches of new tech categories (including wearables, Apple TVs, and HomePods), Apple has shown it's still creating value for this segment. There is also a tremendous ecosystem play where owning a suite of Apple products enables better interoperability among your tech.
• 卫生保健— One market Apple has its eyes on is healthcare. By focusing on the appeal of having information right at your fingertips with mobile and the iPad, they've positioned healthcare workers to more conveniently communicate with patients.

Apple doesn't seem to exclude many people from its target market and has positioned itself to benefit both consumers and businesses — even with the same products like the iPad.

它的成功更多是要了解其不同细分市场的价值，而不是将其排除在外。

5.麦当劳目标市场

McDonald's target market is broad and encompasses a wide variety of customer personas. Younger professionals represent one of the chain's more prominent target market segments — and that trend is reflected in many of the company's location remodels. Several McDonald's franchises have been revamped to look sleeker, more modern, and better suited for millennials.

Image Source: Community Impact

拥有六个孩子的“全巢”家庭代表了链条的另一个关键基础。该专营权以吸引该特定细分市场的大步介绍了公司提供的快乐餐选择。bob全站app

但是，几乎有一个因素强调麦当劳试图吸引社会阶层的每个目标市场。该连锁店有意识地努力与较低，工作和中产阶级的顾客产生共鸣。

Pricing is the basis of McDonald's value proposition. It tries to bill itself as an affordable alternative to more expensive options in the spaces it attempts to sell in. For instance, when promoting its McCafe line, the chain stressed the brand's particularly low price points as a major selling point.

图片来源：麦当劳

最终，在大多数人口统计学方面isspecific in terms of its various personas' economic circumstances. Its value proposition fundamentally rests on the fact that its food is inexpensive.

You need to have a firm grasp on your target customers if you're going to develop pointed, effective value propositions. The success and viability of your sales messaging, prospecting efforts, and broader sales process rests on your knowledge of who's buying your product or service and the mindset that makes them do it.

That starts with target market segmentation.

Target Market Segmentation

Target market segmentation is the process of partitioning your target audience into more focused, identifiable, and approachable groups (or segments). It's a broad concept that can take on a lot of forms, including:

• Geographic segmentation — Dividing your target market based on geographical boundaries
• Firmographic segmentation — A practice specific to B2B sales where firms are divided based on characteristics like company size or number of employees
• 行为细分 - 根据行为倾向和决策模式将目标市场划分
• 人口细分 - 根据收入，教育，种族，性别或职业等因素来划分目标市场
• Psychographic segmentation — Dividing your target market based elements like personality traits, values, and opinions

您如何选择细分目标市场将特别适合您公司的需求和利益。bob全站app在许多情况下，如果不是大多数情况，您将在定义目标市场时采用上面列出的细分方法之一。

当您确定要服务的客户以及您不服务的客户时，请问：

• “我的目​​标客户是否有不同的问题来解决我的产品？”
• "Do my target customers get different value from my product?"
• "Are either of these things related to demographic, geographic, or lifestyle components?"

为了有效地细分，您必须有一种体面的方式来衡量您向市场提供的价值。然后，确定某些组是否比其他组获得更多的价值。

This will power the positioning of your product. Suddenly, you have the ability to pinpoint pain for your customers while speaking their language.

This helps you refine your position in the market and connect on a deeper level with your customer. Having a target market or target customer is all about relevancy and relating to the person on the other side of the cash register.

销售团队如何利用目标市场

Segmentation poses several benefits for sales teams. If you know who's going to be most receptive to your product or service, you get a leg up when conducting most steps of your sales process.

一方面，有效的细分可能是勘探的主要资产。如果您的SDR对哪种客户往往对您的产品感兴趣，那么冷线会变得更加温暖 - 让这些代表在与潜在客户建立联系时更加周到地对您的销售消息进行更深思熟虑。

除此之外，细分还可以帮助获得潜在客户资格。知道铅是否适合一类高转换客户的账单，使代表在该阶段有了一个榜首。

You need to have some kind of criteria that can immediately distinguish a prospect who needs your product or service from one that lacks the decision-making tendencies, location, or economic circumstances to actually get something out of it. Target market segmentation gets you there.

最后，目标市场为销售团队提供必要的信息，以违反新市场并有效地出售给他们。如果您不在任何可能需要您的产品或服务的新兴市场中，那么您可能会遇到销售潜力的墙，并损失令人难以置信的利润丰厚的商机。

Ultimately, knowing your target markets inside and out is one of the most fundamental tenets of successful sales efforts. If you're not actively analyzing, pursuing, and refining your understanding of your target markets, you're losing out on sales and painting yourself into a corner with your business potential.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.