The Keys to Discovering What Your Target Market Really Wants

 
Introduction

Why should you research your target market? Why should anyone want to research their target market? Well, to discover what your target market wants and needs.

Let's imagine for a moment you don't know what your market wants. How do you know that what you offer is something your market might:

1. conceivably want and

2. consider paying you for?

Really, how do you know? That's like blindfold archery – you might sometimes hit the target by accident – but people are likely to get hurt in the process. However, if you establish what they want, and you have something to meet that want, you, my friend are in business.

What you need first

This article presupposes you know:

1. your target market (who they are, what their characteristics are and the like) and

2. how to reach your target market.

If both of these things are true, this article is for you.  If you are unsure of your target market or how to reach it, you'll need to have those things in place first.  If you're unsure of your target market, do read my article "The Four Secrets To Discovering Your Coaching Niche".

And if you don't know how to reach your target market, read my article "The Secrets of How to Reach Your Target Market".  Both of these articles have been published recently in the ECI monthly newsletter and via ezinearticles.com .

So, let's assume you know your target market and how to reach it.

How to discover what your target market wants

Are you ready to take in a large amount of important, detailed information really quickly?  Ready?  Here it comes:

Ask 'em!

That's it.  Ask 'em. That's it?  Yes, that's it.

"But what do I ask?" I hear you saying. 

Try this question: "What is the biggest problem in your business right now, which if solved, would give you the greatest benefit?"

Write down their answers. When you know what your target market's biggest problems are, the ones they want solved, you're halfway to success.

But where do I ask this question?

You remember how you reach your market?  You go where they go.  Once you know where your market meets, go there, physically or virtually, and ask them that question. You have two broad environments to work in – offline and online.

Let's deal with the offline ways first.

How to research your market offline

There are two broad offline strategies – depending on whether you are presenting to a group or attending someone else's meeting.

When you present

You may be presenting at someone else's group, on a topic you are familiar with.  Or you may organise a seminar or workshop yourself.  Either way you are in control of the content and can ask your audience questions.

So as a part of your presentation, why not get the audience to tell you what their biggest problems are?  Or hand out sheets that ask them for their most pressing problems.  Go through these and look for common themes.

When you attend a meeting

If you're attending an organised event, your strategy will be different.  Your target market will have places that they meet regularly – associations, clubs, industry groups, special interest groups and the like.  If you're a member of this target market, you'll know what these groups are.  If you're not, just call three or more members of your target market and ask them where they go.

You'll probably find that the meetings are a mixture of regular presentations, networking events, shows, exhibitions, seminars, workshops and the like.  Many of these are likely to be organised by associations and clubs closely related to your target market.

So attend these regularly, and get seen.  Whether it's a presentation, workshop or exhibition, your approach is the same – to network.  This is a vital skill for you to be able to build your business.

When you network, focus on the other person's wants – and ask the question above: "What is the biggest problem in your business right now, which if solved, would give you the greatest benefit?"

If you want to learn how to network effectively, I can strongly recommend Will Kintish of http://www.kintish.co.uk , who is a master at demystifying the networking process and enabling you to be successful at it.

How to research your market online

Discover what forums are used

These days, for any special interest group you'll find one or more forums online.  These might be hosted by Yahoo Groups or Smart Groups, or by another online mechanism.

Join the groups your target market have joined and lurk in the forums to see what questions people are asking.  This will give you insights to your target market's most frequent problems.

Of course, you can increase your visibility and answer people's questions where you can add value.  And you can also ask your own questions, and compile the responses.

Use an online survey tool

Once you have access to your market online via suitable forums, you could use an online survey tool like SurveyMonkey or Askdatabase . 

Both SurveyMonkey and AskDatabase are straightforward to use.  With Askdatabase, one can have an online survey up and running in seconds.  It is also possible to tailor the appearance of an Askdatabase page to conform to your house branding.

Summary

The above article outlines strategies you can use today to research your target market. You can research offline via presentations and via networking, and online via forums and online survey tools.  Whichever strategy you adopt, why not plan how you'll put it in place and get results in the next 30 days?