One of the key pieces of advice you’ll hear from any marketing guru is this:

Understand your target market.

It’s short, it’s simple and it’s effective. And yet I suspect that very few of us really ever follow the advice and do this.

I sound like a parrot when I talk to clients about how to improve their marketing, “You’ve got to understand your target market, if you don’t understand them, you won’t know where to find them, what they’re looking for and what they respond to” - it’s one of the most common phrases you’ll hear me say to clients who wonder why people aren’t beating down their doors to work with them.

The problem is however, that unless you know who your market is and how/where to find out more about them, it can feel like a guessing game and a big fat waste of time.

Here are some of the places you can turn to, to help you find out more about your target market and what really gets them going…

Existing Clients

The first and often best place to start to find out more about your ideal target market, is with your existing client base. Use questionnaires, informal/formal chats or an outside company to find out more about them and query existing clients on why they work with you, why they chose you and how they feel about you.

Blogs, Mailing Lists and Ezines

If you have blog subscribers or prospects on your mailing list who aren’t yet clients but are clearly interested in what you do and what you have to offer, then ask them. Run polls, quizzes or simply invite comments and responses to find out more about the demographics and preferences of the people who’ve shown an interest in you.

This is the next best thing to asking actual clients because these people are the people who are interested in what you have to say and are therefore potential prospects who can provide you with the insights you need, to better serve their needs.

Social Networks

If you sell your services to the general public, then you’ve got it made; it has never been as easy as it is these days to find out what people want, what people think and how people feel about things. Simply connecting with and joining relevant networks and communities on Twitter, Facebook, other forums/social networks can tell you a huge amount about the people you might be targeting. Services like Ask500People are designed specifically to find out what people think, so try using them to determine which ones are the most relevant for you.

Note: If you offer more specialized services to a specific target market who perhaps don’t spend their time online, then this may not however be the tactic for you.

Industry Events, Awards & Showcases

If the industry you’re in has regular meet-ups and conventions, then these are ideal hunting grounds to find out more about your target market. Not only is it a great time to network with colleagues in your industry and get a bit of market research done on the competition, these kinds of events are often packed with prospective clients who are interested in finding out the industry buzz.

Make the most of the opportunity to mingle amongst your target market and simply listen to what’s going on around you (without, of course, appearing like a spying eavesdropper with hidden microphone and tape recorder in tow!).

Trade Papers & Reports

Similarly to industry events, trade papers and reports usually highlight the latest news and developments in your field. You can keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the industry plus what’s going on outside of the industry by reading white papers, research findings and keeping abreast of the latest buzz in and around the industry. If you don’t have the budget to conduct extensive market research about your market (and let’s face it, not many freelancers do), then take advantage of information provided by those who do even if it requires an investment on your part.

Trend Resources

Spotting up-and-coming trends amongst your target market is a fantastic way to stay ahead of the competition and offer your target markets with the latest and greatest. Sites like Trendhunter and Trend Central do the job for you and if you’re really serious about this, you can purchase annual Trend reports to stay ahead of the game.

News & Current Affairs

A free and easy way to keep tabs on what clients want, is to read the newspapers, watch the TV and keep tabs on current affairs. Once you know a bit more about your target market including what papers they read, what shows they watch and what websites they browse, then you can keep specific tabs on these ones and find out who and what they’re being influenced by.

It’s amazing the amount of information you can find out about people these days. Without wanting to bring out the stalker in you, putting your sleuthing hat on and doing a little more digging on what makes your target market tick is a great long term investment in the success of your business. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of marketing and makes your job of attracting the right type of clients a whole lot simpler.

Lea Woodward

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