I’m preparing to teach a group of authors, both newly published, and veterans, about the importance of effective online marketing.
As I’ve mapped out some of the different topics I’ll be covering, the one that continues to come to mind is about the importance of defining WHO you’re marketing to.
Having worked with lots of internet start-ups, I’ve realized that defining your target audience is probably the hardest and most overlooked aspect of online marketing.
It really doesn’t matter WHAT you sell. What matters most is the “WHO”.
The cool thing is, if you know a clearly defined target audience well, you can sell them lots and lots of different products and services because they’ll see value in what you’re offering over and over again. Plus, as you help solve their problems, you’re building a business relationship – and that’s what successful business is all about.
In other words, selling products and services online is not just about creating a product you think would be cool and then pushing it out and seeing how good it will stick. Sure, sometimes you have to test, and test, and re-test, but hopefully that’s BEFORE you invest lots of money in product, advertising and all the costs associated with running a legitimate business.
In an effort to teach this concept to these authors, I’ve compiled a list of questions about defining your target audience that I’ve used throughout my internet marketing career.
I’ve formatted the questions so they are not just for an author. Instead, they can be implemented for ANY business owner that needs to define, or re-define, his or her niche market segment(s).
How I break down the questions:
a. For an inventor or someone creating something new or innovative.
b. For an entrepreneur who wants to sell a product or service that already exists in the market.
c. For the authors that I’ll be speaking with.
12 Questions to Help You Define Your Target Audience
1. When you
a. came up with your idea
b. decided to sell this product
c. wrote your book, etc.],
a. did you think it would help?
b. did you plan to sell it to?
c. were you writing to?
2. Does this audience currently buy
a. something similar to what you’re creating
b. this product or service elsewhere?
c. your book or books similar to yours?
3. Why specifically
a. do you want to create this product or service?
b. are you interested in selling this product or service?
c. are you writing this book?
4. How does your
b. product or service
help your targeted audience or what problem does it solve for your audience?
5. What are your marketing demographics?
6. How do you currently determine who buys
a. an idea like yours?
b. a product or service like yours?
c. your book?
7. What specific things do your buyers have in common?
8. What are your marketing psychographics?
9. How do you determine if there are enough people that fit your targeted criteria?
10. What drives your target audience to make buying decisions?
11. How can you best reach your target audience?
12. Where is your target audience “hanging out” online?
These are questions I’ve gone over quite a few times throughout my online marketing career. They’ve helped me broaden my scope in some areas of my business; they’ve also helped me narrow things down substantially.
Are there questions I’ve left out?
How do YOU define your target audience?
Nate Moller consults with clients about how to start an online business. For over five years, hes worked with thousands of companies who are looking for answers in their online marketing journey. Follow Nate on Twitter and become a fan of Moller Marketing on Facebook!