Target Marketing Ideas
Target marketing is the recognition that a mass market comprises separate groups whose demographic and psychographic profiles differ. A program to market to those segments would need to capitalize on those differences by playing them back to the targeted group in an effort to demonstrate intimate knowledge of that group. Target marketing offers a way for marketers to spend limited resources on targets that make the most sense from a product usage, disposable income or geographic standpoint.
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Targeting Information
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The first place to consult when doing an analysis on a target group is the U.S. Census Bureau. The government collects demographic information every 10 years and then publishes the basic data in all sorts of helpful reports related to nearly every aspect of consumer life.
Depending on the nature of the specific business and the growth goals of the business, defining one or more target consumer segments to direct marketing activities is an effective and efficient means of marketing.
Defining Target Market
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A company that markets a product with a higher price tag, such as certain cars, homes and luxury goods, might decide to reach higher-income people, and it determines that professionals would make an ideal target. Among professionals, the company might find that doctors and lawyers are a better market for its product than, say, accountants or college professors. While all are professionals, the income differences among the two groups could be profoundly different.
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Gender
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Defining a target audience by gender is usually the first step in determining an audience for a product. A business that broadly seeks to market to all women might find it costly in terms of marketing outlay. It might look for ways to further refine its target audience by narrowing the definition of the target. Women with children would narrow an all-women target audience. Women with children who live in the Northwest gets the number down even further, especially for a luxury car dealer based in Seattle, Portland and northern California. Women with children living in the Northwest who are doctors or lawyers define the group even further. Using demographic data helps paint a finer picture of your target and is useful in the development of messaging such as advertising.
Aging Population
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Age is another viable idea to use to target market. For example, since the U.S. population is aging, if a product has a particular efficacy for older people, real or manufactured, age can be used to segment the mass population into a more manageable group.
Multicultural Groups
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America's ethnic groups, including Latinos, African Americans and Asians, are often segmented for targeting purposes. Latinos and African Americans currently make up about 14 percent of the total U.S. population, with Asians comprising about 5 percent. Latinos are projected to grow exponentially by 2050, and together, blacks, Latinos and Asians will make up a larger market of consumers than all other groups.
Language is usually the rationale for why a company might want to do a separate marketing effort that targets Asians or Latinos. Culture and lifestyle might dictate that African Americans be segmented for special target initiatives. Whatever the motivation, because these groups are poised for growth in the future, many marketers have set their targets on them right now.
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