Who Is Your Market and Where Are They?

 by: Sonia Colon

An important part of planning your business is to know who will use your products/services.

The vast majority of small businesses will rely on their communities for sales. It is in your best interests to get to know everything you can about your community, or the people who will use yor business.

Please don't spend advertising dollars on people who don't want or need your products/services. First, find out who are your potential consumers. Find out by answering the following questions:

• Are most of them female?

• Are most of them male?

• Are they an even mix of male & female?

• What is their average income bracket?

• Where would these consumers generally congregate?

• What are their interests?

• What is the average size?

• What is their average age?

• What type of work do they do?

• Do they live in apartments, houses or rural areas?

• What is the average family size?

• Which radio stations would they most likely listen to?

Answering the above questions will enable you to define the physical limitations of your business and build a profile of your average consumer. Some of the most successful businesses know exactly who they are catering to. With the answers to these questions, you can formulate marketing strategies aimed specifically at those consumers.

Break it down into the types of people who live there, you will be able to make informed marketing decisions. Finding out the income levels of your average consumer is vital. Don't waste your time trying to sell expensive items to low-income consumers. Study, study, study your consumers habits. Once you have a better idea of who you are targetting, you can then research the best way to advertise and promote your business.