How to do Marketing Segmentation -- Reach Your Target Market and Boost Your Sales

If you want to succeed online, you have to recognize that the Internet is a very competitive place and work SMART.

The key to working smart is talking to the right audience -- the people who are interested in what you have to say, and what you have to sell. In other words, you have to reach your target market.

Let's start with a definition of target market. Simply put, a target market is a group of people most likely to buy from you.

A target market is subset of a market. What is a market?

A market is a segment of the population that shares a common need or desire, and is motivated to buy something that satisfies that need.

Reaching your target market is effective marketing segmentation. It allows you to drill down to the group of people whose needs you can fill, and who are most likely to buy from you.

Simple but powerful.

So how do you do marketing segmentation?

Start by understanding your target market.

The success of your business depends on a deep-level understanding of your target market.

Understanding your target market will allow you to:

1. Sharpen your marketing efforts -- The more you specialize, the more your market will see the value of your services because you speak directly to their unique situation.

2. Differentiate yourself -- Many entrepreneurs are afraid to pursue a market niche because they are afraid they will lose business by turning away customers. But this 'take all comers' approach is not very effective. It's hard to stand out when you market your business without a distinctive set of prospects in mind.

3. Cater your services to their needs -- By understanding your customer, you will be better able to serve them, and by meeting their needs, you will generate more sales.

4. Shorten your sales cycle and increase profits -- The beauty of target marketing is that it provides a focus to all of your marketing activities, making your business more efficient.

Here are five steps to help you understand your target market:

1. Identify who your target market is Be specific. What is their gender, age, income level, background, profession, etc. Obviously your target market should relate to your business, but it really helps if you can relate to your target market. That way you can relate to their needs, values and concerns, and connect with them in a genuine way.

2. What are their concerns, worries, fears, problems, challenges and painful circumstances? The job of any business person is to provide a solution that fulfills a need or challenge. In order to provide a tailored solution, you have to first understand their needs and concerns.

3. What are the reasons they are having these worries or concerns? Go one layer deeper and get inside their hearts and minds. This will give you the insights you need to fully relate to your target market.

4. What are their dreams, aspirations, wishes, goals, wants, likes and needs? What unfulfilled dreams are they hesitating to act on? What are the things that motivate them and touch their heart? What would they like their lives to look like?

5. What is stopping them or holding them back from achieving their dreams and goals? What is stopping them from pursuing their dreams? What person or situation has been draining them? What self-limiting beliefs are holding them back from accomplishing their dreams and desires?

You might not have all the answers at hand but do your best. That's why its so important to pick a target market you can relate to. And what you don't know, research. Invest the time to truly understand your target market and set a solid foundation for your business success.

You can research your target market by:

1. Interviewing members of your target market, including existing customers
2. Visiting online groups, blogs and forums that are geared to your target market
3. Reading books and journals

Once you have identified you target market, what do you do with this information?

1. Hang out where they are online -- There are so many different social networking sites and every industry seems to have sites that cater to them specifically. Search Google until you find where your target market is socializing, then join that site and get to know people. Do NOT start spamming or pushing your services. Social Networking online is just like social networking offline. You would never go into a crowded room of people and start to sell your products to everyone, so why would you do that online? Learn how to create a professional online presence or you will shoot yourself in the foot.

2. Talk their language -- Identify keywords to use for content. This is critical for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Don't be afraid of SEO. See below for some valuable tips on using SEO for effective marketing segmentation. Here is some free SEO help for beginners.

3. Create content geared to your target market -- Reach your Target Market online with INFORMATION. Studies have shown that the primary activity of people on the internet is RESEARCH. So you need to provide content that is valuable to your target market.

Learn all about writing internet articles and article marketing strategies.

4. Understand what sets you apart from your competition and communicate it clearly to your target market -- In other words, identify your Unique Selling Proposition or USP.

Your USP is a sentence or phrase that explains what sets you apart and makes you special. It is the soul of your business, and is what distinguishes you from your competitors. It is the answer you give when a potential client asks "Why should I buy from you?". It is critical to your business success that you learn how to develop your Unique Selling Proposition.

Part of marketing segmentation is understanding what your target market is searching for online.

What keywords or keyword phrases are they searching for?

Are there enough people searching for those keywords to make them worthwhile? Are those keywords too competitive? In other words are there too many competing web pages using those keywords?

What keywords are used by people most likely to buy, vs. just looking for free information?

Your goal is to ti find the keywords or keyword phrases used by people willing to buy a product or service online and for which there is an acceptable level of competition.

That is the goal. So how do you do that?

You want to find words you personally would use if you were looking for information about your topic.

Be specific. Use keyword phrases instead of just words on their own.

There are two advantages to doing this. First, you will have less competition with "targeted keywords" vs. using broader keywords. Second, you are more likely to convert to sales, because you're attracting people who are looking for what you have to offer.

Here are some valuable keyword research tools and SEO help for beginners.

Don't waste your time with non-targeted marketing. It is a waste of your time and money. As a small business coach, I help solo entrepreneurs identify their unique niche so they can market authentically and effectively. Get your copy of my free report , "Ten Steps to Finding and Attracting Your Ideal Niche .