Target Market Questions

Consider the people that could find your service/product valuable, and ask yourself the following questions:

If you are targeting businesses rather than individuals, remember it is still individuals that choose whether or not to buy your product so these questions are still relevant. Just think of them in terms of the key decision maker within the type of business you are targeting. In this case you also need to profile the type of business and so you may want to consider the additional questions at the end.

1. What is their age?
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2. Where do they live?
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3. Where do they work?
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4. What is their occupation?
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5. What is the level of their earnings?
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6. What type of house do they live in?
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7. Where do they go on holiday?
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8. What magazines / newspapers do they read?
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9. What do they do for leisure?
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10. What do they watch on the TV?
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11. What is their family situation?
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12. What sports do they enjoy?
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13. Where do they tend to shop?
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14. Are they PC literate?
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15. How often do they use the internet?
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16. What are their beliefs?
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17. What are their opinions on issues?
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18. What type of personality do they have?
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19. What alternatives to your product / service do they use?
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Now use the answers to these questions to build a detailed profile of your target customers. You may need to split the results into several groups. This will help you target any marketing activity far more effectively.

Additional questions for targeting businesses

1. What is the level of turnover?
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2. What geographical area do they cover?
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3. How many employees to they have?
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4. What sector do they operate in?
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5. Who makes the decisions related to your product/service?
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6. What is their target market?
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7. What do they need to help them succeed?
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8. What publications are important to their business?
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9. What exhibitions/conferences do they attend?
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Defining your target market is a critical step to getting the most out of any marketing exercise. Subscribe to the BiG Bulletin for more help on this and all aspects of low cost but highly effective marketing for small businesses. It's free!