Focus and Identify Your Target Audience

Your value proposition must be relevant to your target market. This means your target market must be identified and clearly defined. In my experience, it's not uncommon for a business to have to refocus and revisit their targeting, especially if it was not clearly identified in the beginning stages of business.

It's important in this process to find the right balance when defining your target market in a way that causes your audience to recognize that you are talking specifically to them. This often requires companies to narrow down their target market, so that the message is strong, compelling and clear.

Why is Your Target Market Important in Branding?

Regardless of your brand mission, identifying and gaining the devotion of your target audience is the necessary means to reaching your brand objectives.

You will find that knowing your target market inside and out you'll have the information that you need to achieve your brand marketing goals. You can do this by conducting a market analysis. Depending on how much detail you put in the market analysis you have the capabilities of gathering enough data to learn what you need to know to reach your target effectively. Knowing your target audience you help you in solidify your message and increase your confidence in the steps to take to connect with that audience.

If you get one thing, get this - the power of your brand relies on your ability to focus and craft amarketing message that will convert prospects into customers. That is why defining your target market will help to strengthen your brand's overall effectiveness.

There are two steps in lesson four of the Developing Your Brand's Strategy course. The first is to conduct an informal market analysis of your target market which I mentioned above and the second is to write a target audience definition for your company. The instructions below will walk you through the process of completing both of these steps.

RESOURCH:

http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/target_market.htm