Customer Targeting

Customer targeting or who a business sells to whether it is B2B or B2C, is a key part of the business planning process. Customer profiling and target selection is critical as it defines the marketing strategy, resources, costs and customer target selection lists for the sales team. A businesses services or products may have appeal to a wide range of customers or markets but the reality is you cannot target everyone at once so you need to list your target customers by demographics, segment, industry and size to get the best return possible.

Every business wants as many people or buyers as possible to know about their business. However when it comes to customer acquisition the more customers you want to reach, the reality is the more time, resources and money it’s going to cost. Defining the customer acquisition strategy and target customer selection may feel like you could be ignoring some groups or segments but it is important to remember that you’re not excluding anyone; for now the business is choosing where to focus, to spend the time and money to win new customers at reasonable cost. Customer targeting focuses a business and ensures all marketing and sales resources are being maximised. Focusing on a market segment or profile of businesses/consumer who could be interested in what company is offering allows you to communicate and engage with that segment more deeply. The cost of customer acquisition alongside the product to market fit is critical for any business success.

Customer Targeting – Action Plan

Consult the business plan.

Review the business plan, the business mission, the product strategy, and then look at the goals the business has set itself, next analyse the products and/or services on offer. Think about how the products or services you sell solve a problem for a potential customer. Also, think about what sets you apart from the competition in your industry—what makes you different? Where are the low hanging fruit? And who might be interested and who may benefit most from having what you are offering. In customer acquisition knowing why customers buy and why they should consider you is vital in identifying your target audience.

Now move on to the information you need to know and why. What do you need to know about your potential customers in order to reach them?

As your ideas become clearer, refine the business plan and go to market strategy to focus on who you want your audience to be, remember product to market fit is a key building block in business success so target selection is ultimately about the customer. Rather than think about who you would like to sell to, think about the market, who do you believe is considering or likely to evaluate the products and services you offer.

Research your customer targets.

Start with free publicly available research. Existing sources like LinkedIn, Google, Industry whitepapers, articles and forums can help most businesses gather together information about your market, the industry, your competition, and the profiles of the potential customers you have already identified. While it takes time and effort, the cool thing is that someone has already done the work and the information you gleam will not cost you anything. Join groups, follow influencers on Twitter, and get access to updates on social media and what the competition is talking about.

Create a typical customer profile.

Once you have narrowed down the customer target list (segment, demographic, vertical, and industry), now you will need to create a typical customer profile. This is not an in-depth profile but a brief outline of what the typical customer may look like including demographics and profiling information:

Demographic information: This might include for B2B targeting – company size, industry, location, financials, and buyer path or decision trees. In B2C this may include – customer age, gender, location, ethnic background, marital status, income, and more.

This information can be essential for developing the actual customer profile list. Demographic information will help you identify the type of person or business who you believe will be most open to buying your products and services.

Locate your audience.

Next step is to get immersed in where your customer target profiles live on the web. Find out what forums, groups and social networks they engage with. Can they be social influenced with content; do they invite connections, what is their culture, habits or interests? The information put together on customer profiles together with knowing where the on-line locations your target audience hangs out or how they use technology will improve your chance to create awareness and shorten the sales cycle.

Refine and improve.

Customer target selection and profiling is a continuous effort as your products and growth stages change. Every business needs to continually conduct research and tap into social networks for conversations to stay current on market and industry trends including your competition.  Also it is important to track how your current and potential customers move through the buyer funnel. A key part is to have the marketing tools and insights to make sure you can track leads, traffic, sales, social interactions, requests for information, and more. All of these customer touch points are important to monitor. This marketing data will help the business to identify trends, patterns, and possible areas of improvement. Refining and improving your cost per lead, cost per sale and lead to revenue metric will ensure you maximise the marketing efforts as your business grows.