Key marketing concepts- Targeting

Target Marketing - Meaning, Basis and its Need

It is not possible for a marketer to have similar strategies for product promotion amongst all individuals. Kids do not get attracted towards products meant for adults and vice a versa. Every segment has a different need, interest and perception. No two segments can have the same ideologies or require a similar product.
Target Marketing refers to a concept in marketing which helps the marketers to divide the market into small units comprising of like minded people. Such segmentation helps the marketers to design specific strategies and techniques to promote a product amongst its target market. A target market refers to a group of individuals who are inclined towards similar products and respond to similar marketing techniques and promotional schemes.
Kellogg’s K Special mainly targets individuals who want to cut down on their calorie intake. The target market in such a case would be individuals who are obese. The strategies designed to promote K Special would not be the same in case of any other brand say Complan or Boost which majorly cater to teenagers and kids to help them in their overall development. The target market for Kellogg’s K Special would absolutely be different from Boost or Complan.
Jordan, a college student went to a nearby retail store to purchase a shirt for himself. The retailer tried hard to sell a nice formal shirt to him, but somehow could not convince Jordan. Jordan left the store sad and empty handed.

Where do you think is the problem ?

The problem is neither with Jordon nor the shirt. The retailer in this case failed to understand that Jordan, being a college student, was not the target audience for the formal shirt. No amount of convincing helped as the retailer was targeting the wrong audience. The target market for a formal shirt would be office goers or professionals. Funky T shirts, casual shirts would have worked better for Jordon.
The target market for Zodiac Clothing Company Limited or Louis Philippe would be the office goers whereas the target market for Levi’s would be the school and college kids.
The target market for Cat moss or Giny and Jony would be kids.
In simpler words, target market consists of like-minded individuals for whom an organization can afford to have similar strategies, promotional schemes and advertisements to entice them and prompt them to purchase the product. Once a company decides on its target audience, it implements various promotional strategies to make a brand popular amongst them.

Basis of Target Marketing

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Interests
  • Geographic location
  • Need
  • Occupation

Why target marketing? (Need of Target Marketing)

  • Organizations can use similar kind of strategies to promote their products within a target market.
  • They can adopt a more focused approach in case of target marketing. They know their customers well and thus can reach out to their target audience in the most effective way.

How to create Target Market

  • The organization must first decide who all individuals would fit into a particular segment. A male and a female can’t be kept in the same segment. The first and the foremost step is to decide on the target market.
  • The next step is to identify need and preference of the target market. It is essential to find out what the target market expects from the product.
  • Once the target market is decided, organizations can decide on the various strategies helpful to promote their product.

How to select the Target Market ?

It is essential for the organizations or marketers to identify the set of people whom they want to target ?. Marketers must understand the needs and expectations of the individuals to create its target market.
The target audience must have similar needs, interests and expectations.
Similar products and brands should entice the individuals comprising the target market.
Same taglines and advertisements attract the attention of the target audience and prompt them to buy.
To select a target market, it is essential for the organizations to study the following factors:
  • Understand the lifestyle of the consumers
  • Age group of the individuals
  • Income of the consumers
  • Spending capacity of the consumers
  • Education and Profession of the people
  • Gender
  • Mentality and thought process of the consumers
  • Social Status
  • Kind of environment individuals are exposed to
Always remember you would never be successful if you try to impress everyone. Be specific
Identify individuals who show similar characteristics. Put them in one group to create target market within a broad market.
Let us go through the below example:
Why do people use soaps ?
Some would use it against body odour
Some would use it to fight germs and infections
Some for a fair and spotless skin
In the above case the product is same but the needs of the individuals are different. Consumers have different reasons as to why they use soaps.
Target Audience 1
Against body odour - Soaps with a strong and lasting fragrance.
  • Marketing professionals
  • Sales Representatives
  • People exposed to sun for a longer duration
  • Individuals travelling by public transport
Target Audience 2
To fight germs and infections - Soaps with medicinal properties
  • Individuals working in hospitals, nursing homes and research centres
  • Individuals working in unhygienic conditions
Target Audience 3
For a whiter skin - Soaps which improve the skin tone of individuals.
  • Teenagers
  • College students
Target Audience 4
For a younger looking skin - Soaps which help get rid of wrinkles and fine lines of ageing
  • Individuals between age group 30 – 50 years or above
Individuals with identical requirements form the target audience. A 20 year old girl can’t be targeted along with someone who is 50 years old.
Online matrimony sites target young individuals aspiring to get married. The organizations strive hard to fulfil their expectations by providing suitable matches.
Other important factors like climatic conditions and geographical locations also play an important role in deciding the target market.
Deodorants and perfumes sell like hot cakes in humid and warm places.
Target Market for Beverages
Bournvita, Complan, Maltova, Boost - Growing kids
Soft drinks (Pepsi, Coke) - Teenagers
Fruit Juice (Real, Tropicana) - Health conscious individuals
Energy Drinks(Red bull) - Professionals, Office goers

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