Target Market Profile

Target Market Profile

Now that you've completed your surveys, interviewed your customers, interview your staff, and completed your research, it's time to compile your results; to organize them in a user-friendly way that will help direct your marketing strategy. In other words, it is time to create your Target Market Profile.

A Target Market Profile is a prototype of your ideal or best customer. For example, your research (and intuition) may indicate that your best customers are women between the ages of 40 and 50 with two children and full-time careers. In the exercises that follow, you'll create market profiles for each of the four basic market segment categories; Geographics, Demographics, Psychographics and Benefits. Collectively, they will form your Target market Profile.

1. Central Demographic Model (CDM)

Your Central Demographic Model is a demographic profile of your ideal customer. It identifies his observable characteristics.

Create a Demographic Modeling Grid, with your Demographic Notes on the left, and your CDM characteristics on the right. While you should try to stick with one profile, do what makes sense for your situation.

1a. Central Geographic Model

Your Central Geographic Model is a geographic profile of your ideal customer. It tells you where he's located and where you might find more like him.

Fill in the following chart the same way you filled in your demographic profile above, this time using your geographic results.

If you have strong secondary profiles, you may need to list them too. For example, if 50 percent of your customers come from your neighbourhood, 35 percent come from adjacent neighbourhoods, and 15 percent come from further away, your CGM lives in your neighbourhood while your secondary model lives in adjacent neighbourhoods. If this distinction is unnecessary, you can simply say that your CGM comes from local and adjacent neighbourhoods.

If, on the other hand, you have two or more distinct Target Markets (i.e. "walk in" customers live locally, while "mail order" customers live across the country), list them separately to avoid confusion.