I was chatting with a small business owner one day when the topic turned to marketing. She wanted advice on building her online presence, so I asked the first question I always ask new clients: “Who’s your target audience?”

“Well, that’s the tricky part,” she replied. “It’s everybody.“

Oh, no. No, no, no. I don’t mean to be negative, but if your target audience is everybody, you’ve got a lot of work to do. Mainly, narrowing down your target audience.

Who Needs A Target Audience?

It doesn’t matter how widespread your appeal is. If you don’t haven’t identified your target market, you have nothing at which to aim. And that makes it nearly impossible to succeed.

Often, business owners who think their target market is everyone just haven’t done enough research. Why do customers buy the product or service? What need does it fulfill? Who has this need?

Even if the answer still seems to be everyone, it’s likely that marketing to one specific demographic will be more profitable than trying to please everyone.

Take It From The Snuggie

Just look at the commercial for the Snuggie: it’s basically a blanket. A unisex, one-size-fits-all, wearable blanket. If there was a product out there whose target market really is everyone, the Snuggie might be it.

But take a look at the commercial. It shows a wide variety of people, but it focuses on one woman. She looks like your typical suburbanite with a few kids and a few pets. The furnishings are middle-class, so she probably has an average income … and that’s good, because the Snuggie isn’t a luxury item.

Even the other people in the commercial seem like they fit right into this woman’s life: the man could be her husband, the kids her children, the elderly couple her parents or in-laws.

The Snuggie may be perfect for everyone, but it’s marketing itself to that woman. A middle-aged, middle-class woman with an active family life who may or may not want a Snuggie for herself, but could use a good gift idea for friends and family. This woman appreciates the Snuggie’s functionality, but doesn’t take it too seriously. After all, the commercial is a little over-the-top.

When you get down to it, the Snuggie has identified a specific target market. And while doing so may not be responsible for the Snuggie’s enormous success, it probably didn’t hurt.

Who’s YOUR Target Market?

So, how do you narrow down your target market? It takes a lot of questioning, and a lot of reflection into the nature of your business. One good way to learn more about a market is through a survey.

I surveyed my own audience two months back, to discover what they were looking for in a blogging e-book. I’ll be revealing the results, and explaining how you can create your own successful survey, in Monday’s post.

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