Target marketing is one of the keys to a successful sales marketing program and an important part of your sales training. Starting your marketing efforts without first identifying your target market is like trying to hit a target with a bow and arrow blindfolded. A very small percentage of the arrows will hit the target.

Every product or service is desirable to a definable group of people. To have greater success in less time with your marketing strategies, spend time identifying your target market.

The Three Best Ways to Target Market

The first area to consider when target marketing is geographic, people or businesses in a certain area. Get to know the geographic area you are considering by driving or walking through it. You can tell a lot by the things you see if you pay attention. Make sure the area works for your particular product or service.

The second area is demographic. Demographics are the basic qualities and characteristics of your target market. They include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, etc. Collecting information about your current or past clients may help show things they have in common which will help in future marketing strategies.

The third is psychographics. These are made up of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your target market. They include the emotion, reasoning, psychology, logic and thought processes behind your target markets decision to purchase your product. It's really important to understand what motivates them to purchase.

Gather Information on Your Target Market

Take time to do the research to find your target market. Go through the list of your past clients. List the characteristics of the clients who've purchased from you. What do they have in common? Take a survey of your past and current clients. Ask them questions like:

* Why did you purchase my product or service?
* Why did you purchase at that specific time?
* Why did you purchase right away or take your time?
* What do you like best about my product or service?
* What do you like least?
* Would you refer others to me? If not, why not?
* What specific benefits do you see in my product or service?

I think you get the idea. Take your time. Get as much information as you can to develop a profile of your target market. You want to know not only who buys from you (demographic) but, more important, why (psychographics).

Take Over the Market

Now that you've found your target market, dominate it. When I sold real estate we called this "farming". I visited my target market frequently knocking on doors to introduce myself as the expert in the area. I would send out a monthly newsletter, deliver suckers, refrigerator magnets, pens, anything with my name on it. Some people handed out pumpkins at Halloween. There are many creative things you can do. Is it a lot of work? Of course, however it pays back huge dividends.

By using target marketing you concentrate your marketing efforts on prospects that will most likely do business with you. You'll also increase your closing ratio, income and stop wasting time on low profitability prospects.