As a small business owner and entrepreneur, it’s critical to understand who your audience is – and who your audience isn’t.
One of the first steps toward small business success involves recognizing that you have a target market. Marketing to anyone and everyone wastes valuable resources. By segmenting the market and knowing who is most likely to purchase your product or service, you can strategically invest your time, energy, and marketing dollars.
This assessment will let you know if you’ve selected the right niche for your business. Based on the results, you can continue on your present course, head back to the drawing board, or simply look for a few tweaks to get you where you need to go.
Directions
Please complete all items. Rate each item on a scale of 1-5.
A score of 1 means less true and a score of 5 mean most true.
Select the answer that best represents your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors regarding your target market.
Choose how true each statement is for you.
- I can easily state the age, gender, educational level, and income level of my target market.
- I have done market research to determine who is best in or not in my target market.
- I understand the sales cycle of my target market, including length of time to close and complete the sales.
- I can fill in this sentence: “The top three most common professions of my clients/customers include....”
- My current target market is in a specific geographical location or I can clearly justify why geography is not a consideration with this market.
- I am very enthusiastic and energetic about the market I have selected for my business.
- I have gone through a brainstorming session to select to whom I am going to market.
- My business is uniquely qualified to address the needs of the specific target market we are currently focused on.
- I have abandoned the idea that marketing to everyone means more possible clients or customers.
- I have developed a marketing plan that addresses how the unique strengths of my business applies to my target market.
- My experience, both personal and professional, aligns very well with the target market I have selected.
- I can state in one sentence the clients or customers my business serves.
- I have received professional consultation or coaching to refine my market and insure that it is the best one for my company.
- I know exactly who my competitors are and how they are marketing to my target audience.
- I have been targeting the market that I target for at least 3-5 years and business has been steadily increasing.
- On a typical day, I think of how glad I am to be working with the clientele I work with.
- The revenue that I have been generating from my marketing efforts is worth my investment in time and energy.
- It is typical for me to think that the clients/customers I work with are interesting and energizing.
- I can honestly say that I am (or my company is) the best-qualified referral for a member of my ideal market.
- I know the percentage of my target market that is likely to purchase my services or products.
- When I think about the people in my target market, I know their psychological needs, motivators, and incentives to buy.
- Members of my target market have given me or my company consistently positive feedback and evaluations.
- I know how to best reach those in my target market (i.e., web, social media, email, advertising, in person, phone, networking, etc.)
- I am aware of the trends and latest changes the people in my market are likely to have recently experienced.
- The creation of my target market developed from a good deal of time, consideration, research, and thought.
- Customers in my market do not regularly create significant troubles or stress for me or others in my business.
- I know when and how people are likely to buy my products or services.
- If I was not able to work with those who are in my current market, I would feel a sense of loss or lack of contentment.
- I am happy to say that my sales have been steadily increasing since I have been focusing all of my marketing efforts on the current market.
- I understand very well the hardships, struggles, difficulties, frustrations, and challenges that those in my target market go through.
Score Interpretation
Total Score 101-150
You know your audience like the back of your hand! This score indicates that you have a strong idea of who is in your target market, and you’ve spent some quality time thinking about their needs and characteristics.
Guess what? All your hard work is paying off!
Since it’s crucial to know what segment you are marketing to, you are ahead of the game – and there’s a good change that you are ahead of your competitors, too. You have not only identified your audience, but you like them. Isn’t it nice to love what you do? It shows.
You may still have a few questions about your target market or need a few adjustments every once in a while, based on marked conditions. Overall, though, you are ready to market to your audience at full steam!
Total Score 51-100
You’re so close! Your score indicates that you know your target market a little bit, but you’re only about halfway there. You’ve probably done some research and have thought about the clientele you’d like to work with – taking demographic factors like age and income level into consideration.
In order to really maximize the results of your marketing efforts, it’s time to delve into what motivates your audience and why you want to work with them.
If you aren’t quite sure how to do that, it may be a good idea to hire a professional coach or consultant. You could even look for advice from a mentor or small business development program. With a little support and guidance, you’ll be ready to open up the throttle on your marketing efforts!
Total Score 0-50
It’s time to go back to the drawing board! This score indicates that you’re either not marketing to the right group or you haven’t tried to segment your audience at all.
If you stay on this path, your marketing efforts will be fruitless.
There’s still hope, though! It’s time to buckle down, do some research, and ask for advice. If you haven’t already hired a professional coach or consultant to guide your efforts, now would be a good time to do that. You can also look for support from a mentor or small business development program.
Once you define your target market and understand their needs, you’ll be ready to execute your full-fledged marketing plan. Keep your eye on the prize and get to work!
Conveyance Marketing Group is a team of bright, innovative and talented veteran marketers dedicated to big ideas, fresh insights and measurable results. We pride ourselves on taking challenging marketing issues and turning them into opportunities for our clients, on pointing brands in the right direction, and on getting our customers noticed both online and off. From branding to websites to digital marketing, and public relations, we handle all your marketing communication needs! Web Design and Development | Brand Strategy | Inbound Marketing | Social Media | SEO | PR
