Target marketing is one of the keys to a successful sales marketing program. Starting your marketing efforts without first identifying your target market is like trying to hit a target with a bow and arrow blindfolded. A very small percentage of the arrows will hit the target.

Every product or service will be desirable to a definable group of people. To have greater success in less time with your marketing efforts, spend time identifying your target market.

There are Three Things to consider when finding your Target Market

The first is geographic. People who live in a certain area. If you need to see people in person, you must choose a market that’s within driving distance.

The second is demographic. Demographics are the basic qualities and characteristics of your target market. They include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, etc.

The third is psycho-graphics. These are made up of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your target market. They include the emotion, reasoning, psychology, logic and thought processes behind your target markets decision to buy your product.

Marketing Tip: #2 Gather information on your target market

Take time to do the research to find your target market. Go through the list of your past clients. List the characteristics of the clients who’ve purchased from you. What do they have in common? Take a survey of your past and current clients. Ask them questions like:

Why did you buy my product or service? Why did you buy at that specific time? Why did you buy right away or take your time? What do you like best about my product or service? What do you like least? Would you refer others to me? If not, why not? What specific benefits do you see in my product or service?

I think you get the idea. Take your time with this marketing tip. Get as much information as you can to develop a profile of your target market. You want to know not only who buys from you (demographic) but, more important, why (psychographics).

Marketing tip #3: Get specific and target your market

Now that you’ve found your target market, dominate it. In real estate we call it “farming”. I visited my target market frequently knocking on doors to introduce myself as the expert in the area. I would send out a monthly newsletter. Delivered suckers, refrigerator magnets, pens, anything with my name on it. Some people hand out pumpkins at Halloween. There are many creative things you can do. Is it a lot of work? Of course, however it pays back huge dividends.

Marketing tip #4: Make sure homes are turning over in your target market

A mistake I made early in my career with a farm was choosing an area because I grew up there and knew it very well. I decided to have a very large farm. I sent post cards and letters, dropped of trinkets and was very consistent in my approach and also spent a lot of money. I kept this up for a few years because I was determined to be the agent that was going to dominate this neighborhood. After a couple of years of very little return I was checking to see who was getting the listings and realized I was getting most of them. The problem was that this area had very little turn over. It didn’t matter if I was doing everything right if there were no sales to be had!

By utilizing these tips you concentrate your marketing efforts on prospects that will most likely do business with you. You’ll also increase your closing ratio, income and stop wasting time on low profitability prospects.