What Is a Target Market?

The target market is the group of buyers with the same needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. ^[1]

Targeted market

The target market is the group of buyers with the same needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. ^[1]

1. According to the characteristics of consumers, subdivide the entire potential market into several parts. According to the characteristics of the product itself, select one or more of these consumers as the sales target pursued by the comprehensive use of various market strategies. The target is the target market.

2.The company is selected as its

The selection strategy of the target market, that is, the decision about which market segment or market segments the company serves. There are usually five modes for reference:

Choosing the target market and clarifying what kind of users the company should serve and what kind of needs they meet

Each of the above three strategies has advantages and disadvantages. When making decisions, companies must analyze the product and market conditions and the characteristics of the company itself. Factors that affect a company's target market strategy are enterprise resources, product homogeneity, market characteristics, the life cycle stage of the product, and competitor strategy ^[5] .

Target market product characteristics

The homogeneity of products indicates the size of the product's differences in performance, characteristics, etc., and is one of the factors that companies must consider when choosing a target market. Generally, for products with high homogeneity, such as common salt, non-discriminatory marketing should be implemented; for products with low or homogeneous heterogeneity, differential marketing or centralized marketing is the appropriate choice.

In addition, the different characteristics of products due to the different stages of the life cycle can not be ignored. The product is in the introduction period and early growth period. Consumers have just come into contact with new products, and their understanding is still at a relatively shallow level. Competition is not fierce. At this time, the company's marketing focus is to tap the basic needs of the market. Indifferent marketing strategy. When the product enters the late growth period and mature period, consumers are already familiar with the characteristics of the product, the demand is developing in depth, showing diversity and different personalities, and the competition is unprecedentedly fierce. Enterprises should timely change their strategies to differentiated marketing or Focus on marketing.

Target market market characteristics

Supply and demand are the two basic forces in the market, and their changing trends are often the root cause that determines the direction of market development. When the demand exceeds supply, the company focuses on expanding supply and has no time to consider the difference in demand, so it adopts the non-differential marketing strategy; when the supply exceeds the demand, the company exhausts to stimulate demand and expand market share, and adopts differential marketing or centralized marketing strategies.

From the perspective of market demand, if consumers have similar demand preferences and purchasing behaviors for a product, they are called homogeneous markets, and indifferent marketing strategies can be adopted; otherwise, heterogeneous markets, differential marketing and concentration Marketing strategies are more appropriate.

Target market cycle stage

For new products in the introduction and growth stages, the marketing focus is to inspire and consolidate consumer preferences. It is best to implement indifferent marketing or centralized marketing for a specific submarket; when the product enters the mature stage The market is fiercely competitive and consumer demand is increasingly diversified. Differentiated marketing strategies can be used to open up new markets, meet new demands, and extend product life cycles.

Target market competitors' strategies

Companies can choose different target market coverage strategies from competitors. For example, when a competitor adopts a non-discriminatory marketing strategy, it is easier for you to take advantage of a differentiated marketing strategy or a centralized marketing strategy.

The target market strategy of an enterprise should be carefully selected. Once determined, it should be relatively stable and cannot be changed overnight. But flexibility cannot be ignored. Without a timeless and correct strategy, we must pay close attention to changes in market demand and competition dynamics.