Identifying your target audience

In order to successfully and economically market your product you need to determine who your target audience is. The main identifiers will be:

1. Gender - male or female - is there a bias for your product?
2. Age
3. Location - where do they live?

Once you have asked these basic questions you can start to build up a 'lifestyle' picture of your target - looking at their interests. You can also start thinking about any 'niche' markets within the broder audience.

Target your specific niche market

Niche markets are core groups of people within your larger target audience who have similar occupational and/or lifestyle characteristics that you can target with excellent results. To identify niche markets, break your audience into as many sub-categories as you can and see if you find specific groups that have similar needs and interests.

eg. If you were making personalised blankets for babies, new mothers would be a niche market within the larger parenting market. To reach new mothers, you would look to have your product information available in birthing and antenatal classes, Dr's surgeries where they have baby clinic, baby/toy shops etc. You might survey new mothers first and find out where they shop and what attracts their attention. The better you know your niche market, the easier you can reach them.

Advertising to your target market

Once you have determined who it is you need to reach you can then sort through all of the possibilities for advertising and find the ones that are going to be best to reach your specific niche audience. You will be looking at options such as:

• Do they read magazines/newspapers? If so, which ones
• Do they watch TV? If so, which channels/programmes
• Do they go to the Cinema?
• Do they travel on Public Transport? If so is it bus/train/tube?
• Do they use the Internet? If so, what sites are they looking at?
• Do they listen to Radio? If so, which stations?

Once you have built up a picture of which media your target consume you will be able to create a PR and Marketing strategy tailored to reaching them.