Defining and Addressing Target Markets

A consumer or customer is someone who makes actual purchase. But before the actual purchase is made there is a buying decision involved and much of the marketing selling effort is made to influence the buying decision while trying to accelerate it.
The actual process of buying is preceded by a Latent Need for the product or product category per se. This need has to mature into a want and this usually happens by external factors of changing lifestyles, changing disposable incomes and so on.
The want then, must be backed by
(a) The ability to purchase
(b) The willingness to purchase.
This set of people is really the Target Audiences (TA) or Target Market for that class of products. In all products the TA is addressed or communicated to, directly, as well as through influencers and persuaders. For example, in product categories like chocolates and toys, although the actual buyer is the parent the influencer and consumer is the child. Hence, most of the times the Marketing Message is directed at the child - obvious influencer of the buying decision. The child, who is the major influencer in the buying process, becomes the TA. This is a classic case of identifying accurately, the Target Market.

In Industrial Products usually the consumer and or the customer does not make the buying decision. In these cases, a product specialist or consultant is brought in, to help make the decision. The more the technological complexity of the product, the more important is the role of the consultant. Hence in Industrial products the TA would definitely have to be these Consultants and Specialists who tend to Influence Buying Decisions.

Precisely defining the TA is extremely important for all businesses, but it is crucial to SME’s, their Marketing budgets being quite low. Here, Less has to do More.
This will help in structuring the Message and deciding on its Medium and Communication.

Perhaps the above will be illustrated with the following example:

A few days ago a friend sought my help to market, what he felt, was a very important message - to Society at large or at least to users of motor vehicles. The message enumerated the Benefits of following Traffic Discipline and Traffic Rules. These benefits were listed out in the form of
1) less Down time of vehicles in the form of Repairs as a result of accidents
2) less cost of litigation and Repairs
Better and more pleasant service to the customers of these fleets
3) This was to be a seminar of about half a day reasonably priced and with good quality Message and its Delivery.
The only problem here seemed to be the definition of the TA.
My friend had identified his TA as the middle class and upper middle class population of a popular Metro. This he advertised in a leading daily, but did not get the desired response. We discussed this at length and redefined the TA as owners of fleets of cars or buses who would better peruse the benefits of the Seminar.
Having thus redefined the TA then the Marketing Strategy has also been reworked and the product has a much better chance of success.

Milind Vartak

www.valueaddservices.com