When marketing or advertising a product, service, or company as a whole, there are many things to consider. One of the most important questions to address is, “Who is the target market?”. By considering this from the get-go, it can save a company both money and time spent in advertising and marketing research. If this question is not addressed, it can lead to unnecessary spending towards clients who are already not interested in what is being sold.
Simply performing market research exercises such as surveying and polling can go a long way. If the company can find out who is interested in the product, more focus can be placed upon that group, a.k.a. the target market. For example, if upon surveying, a new energy drink company finds out that 85% of its potential cliental reside in the 18-25 year old male demographic, then more of its advertising efforts may be placed on appealing to those men. The company can then establish what appeals to 18-25 year old men (things such as women and sports) and utilize those attractions in the advertisements to help promote sales. If this company did not acknowledge who the target market was, then unnecessary and inefficient forms of advertising may be utilized towards promoting sales with a demographic who was not interested in the product regardless of the advertising campaign.
Knowing the target market can help determine not only what to utilize in the advertisements, but also where those advertisements should be place. If a company understands that its target market is 18-25 year old men, placing advertisements in magazines like Vogue or commercials on TV stations like Lifetime probably is not the most efficient business decision to make. Companies like Gatorade realize that the demographic that they target is about 12-25 year old males and females who enjoy sports and competition. Therefore, that is why they typically place their advertisements in magazines like Sports Illustrated and TV stations such as ESPN. Placing advertisements in a magazine like TIME would promote some additional sales, but it is not nearly as efficient as placing them where their targeted demographic is likely to look. For this reason, advertising in inefficient places is not worth to expenses as the money that is spent in advertising would be better served somewhere else. By studying the target market, companies can also avoid making decisions that would hinder the companies’ ability to sell towards their targeted demographic.
Acknowledging who originally is interested in the companies’ products or services is key towards building a successful company. A successful company needs to be a smooth operation that runs efficiently and is aware of any changes that take place in the market. Market research can be a very wise investment to make to help ensure that a company is selling to whom it is suppose to. There is no sense in selling to someone who is not interested in the product under any circumstances.
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