Why should you focus on marketing to the right crowd instead of targeting everyone

It goes without saying that marketing is a must within any business practice, an accompanying question would be – who do we market our services/products to?

While it is tempting to get the word out to as many people as possible, it’s like placing bets on all the numbers of a roulette wheel – it doesn’t work. So here are a few benefits of having a target market.

Optimising costs

One of the reasons why having a target market is essential is because it allows you to focus your marketing efforts in the most cost effective manner. Having a specific target market makes the process of defining your product and target individuals much easier, because it narrows your focus down to one specific group(s). Therefore it is vital to understand the needs of your consumers, and how you can meet them. Whether through market research, running focus groups, scanning industry reviews or doing a market survey.

Sending specific messages

You can only send a relevant brand messages once you’ve identified your target audience, and depending on the needs of your target market, each message could vary widely and thus must be crafted to reflect how each need would be met. E.g. A computer manufacturer will have to design their messages to attract the tech savvy consumers by including concepts such as durability and affordability as part of its appeal.

“The best advertising you can have is a loyal customer spreading the word on how incredible your business is.” – Shep Hyken

Focusing on what matters most

It is impossible to reach every single individual with a marketing message and even if you could, how many among the group will be attracted by your message? Therefore having a target market would immediately allow you to identify those who will be most likely to purchase your products, funneling research and budgets only to customers with the greatest profit potential.

Identifying untapped markets

By picking your markets, you can more easily focus on creating a market plan to capture a smaller and possibly unreached segment of the market, allowing you to carve out a niche for your product. Rather than biting off more than you can chew, focusing on a specific customer segment will allow you to better serve a smaller segment than its larger competitors.

Acquiring customer loyalty and improving customer retention

Reaching the right customer segments allows you to identify whether they share derive value from the product/service and if they feel a connection to the brand. Once you’ve figured out the interests and wants of your target market, developing a strategy to win their hearts over would be much simpler. Building customer loyalty could start from offering perks, VIP offerings or even refer-a-friend programs etc.

The bottomline is this, the long term returns are significant once you’ve gained the loyalty of your target market and continue marketing to them. 80 percent of future profits arise from 20 percent of existing customers, and they are up to 60-70 percent more convertible than a new prospect. So it goes without saying that repeat customers are undoubtedly more valuable than new customers.