Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Website Template Design: Identifying the Target Market

With any type of marketing and advertising, identifying and developing an understanding of the target market is the most important step. These people are same as the people targeted through traditional media, the only difference is they are a little more computer literate and can be anywhere in the world.

You can also make use of an interactive tool by asking your audience to give you feedback. If you can analyze that information well, it will help you further define your On Line market. Proper identification of the target market makes it easy for you to plan effective marketing activity and also helps you develop a winning sales message. By knowing the specific concerns of your market, you can tailor your message to focus on solutions to those concerns.

Setting up your Web site also depends upon your target market. Besides your basic design requirements such as fast loading images and easy navigation, you must consider how to get your visitors attention, convince them to explore your site, and make a purchase or get them to willingly give you their e-mail address.

While writing your headlines and Web copy, always keep in mind the types of people that will be visiting your site. Always consider their demographics such as accessibility, age, income level etc. Choosing interactive software and free content will benefit your visitors and allow you to follow up and make more sales.

Two directions define the challenge of choosing the best target markets. First, your target market should be narrow enough, as it allows efficient marketing. At the same time, the target market should be large enough to have ample sales potential to support the company. Identifying one or two characteristics that most customers have in common defines a company's target market.

Segmenting Markets

There are many ways to segment a market. Identifying which niche makes up a target market is difficult. Major problem is that some niches are more valuable than others and contribute more to the bottom line.

Ranking group of customers by the amount purchased, the frequency of purchasing, and how recent the order was can identify segmentation. When this type of analysis is performed, it is called recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) analysis. The result of this analysis will help you identify who are the good customers and who have been ranked badly.

Other ways to segment a market are geography, lifestyle patterns and demographics. By correlating these indicators you will come to know the buying patterns of your customers, but they don't actually explain why customers buy.

The more your target market is narrower you can focus your marketing communications on specific customer needs. This helps in increasing the confidence of potential customers - that the company understands their needs; this confidence in turn leads to a closer relationship and increased loyalty. Loyal customers are more profitable than new customers. Narrowing the niches served increases revenue and profits.

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