Successful Marketing Part II – Who is Your Target Market?

What is your answer to the question in the title of this blog post?  If your answer is, “I don’t know”, this post is designed for you.  If you do already have a target market, you will get some helpful reminders as to why it is imperative for you as a business owner to focus on serving that market.

Target Market Defined

A target market is the group of people on which you need to focus your marketing efforts.  As a Virtual Assistant you may choose to work with real estate agents or business coaches.  The list from which to choose a target market is endless. Why is it important to have such a narrow focus?  It is simple.  When your target market connects with you in the marketplace, they will see you as THE service professional that is capable of solving their problems.

That is the very reason you started your business in the first place.  You are a problem solver.  When you are marketing your business you want to focus on the problems for which you have the answers.  When a person is looking for solutions they do not necessarily say, “I need a virtual assistant.”  More than likely, they are saying, “I really wish I had help with maintaining my contact database and keeping in touch with them.”  BINGO!!  That is where you (the Virtual Assistant) steps in.  This example is pretty generic for many solo-professionals.  You however, already know the specific problems that you solve for people.  If you take that problem and attach it to a specific group in the marketplace, you will be able to save the day for many who need your services.

Do you remember the example that we gave a few days ago about going out to eat. (See 06/01/11 blog post)  If you wanted authentic Mexican food, you would likely stay away from the restaurant that also prepared Soul Food, Indian, Chinese and Mexican.  That restaurant would be doing way too much for your tastes!  Instead, you would go to a restaurant that focused solely on Mexican cuisine, right?  Ok, it is the same situation when your prospective clients are looking for help in running their business. It is difficult for them to seek out generic solutions.  You will find that business owners are quite specific when they are looking for help.  If you broke your hand, you do not want to go to a brain surgeon or a general surgeon.  You want a hand specialist to tend to your needs.

As a Virtual Assistant, you need to speak directly to the audience which needs the solutions that you have for their problems.

How to Choose a Target Market

There are several ways to go about choosing a target market.  You can think about what industries are of interest to you.  What type of skills are you offering to prospective clients?  Do you want to work with individual business owners or bigger companies?  In what industries do you have experience and knowledge?  I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to figure out what type of work you will be doing and for which group of people.  The more generic you are with this concept, the more difficult it will be for people to find you and consider you as the expert who can help them with their problems.

If you have questions or need help with choosing a target market, please comment below.  You can also join us in our LinkedIn forum.