Weekly Marketing Tip: What does your target market want?

[Frank Gomez]

Some say connecting with the customer is most important, others say it is perceived value and others say it is how eco friendly your product and or business is. It isn't any of them and it is all of them (depending on your niche). Let's look at some examples.

Here is an example of how a company missed their target: people who love music and are comfortable with tech

Strike 1: when Ipods came out only Itunes could reset the device, I don't like being told I have to use a certain software tool to use a product.

Strike 2: Apple chose to make the battery almost impossible to replace, Not Eco-Friendly

Strike 3: I felt that Ipods were too expensive, and after a year they expect me to buy a new one making it even more expensive.

So... I chose instead to buy an inexpensive mp3 player that I could use with various software, that uses rechargable batteries rather than contributing to the landfill and was half as expensive. So for 3 reasons I avoided the Ipod even though I otherwise would fit nicely in Apple's target market.

Another example:

Everyone wants quality but what does quality mean? When you buy a Flip camera you want something that lasts and don't care if it is HD or not because your video is just going to be on YouTube. Wired Magazine had an article a few months ago called The Good Enough Revolution: When Simple and Cheap is Just Fine. In summary this article highlights that people's needs and demands are changing.

But WAIT!

Some people still want the most high tech, super, techno-complex because it somehow ties into their self view and their budget. So if your niche is the ultra picky customer then you don't have to worry about "good enough".

The bottom line is that you have to think hard about what your niche is and what they really want. What is their personality type? what is their age? what do they read? listen to? and most importantly what are their core values.

Frank Gomez is a graphic designer in Sarasota, FL