Target market can be defined as a group of people a business wants to serve in a better way. Target market consists of the people who are aimed by a business to be focused for their marketing efforts and promotion of the product. It plays an important role in designing of the marketing strategy.
It’s a very important concept used in marketing. It helps a business to define and shape its marketing efforts. By defining target market, the objectives become much more clear and achievable. The concept of target market has a deep connection with the 4 p’s of marketing namely product, place, price and promotion. If the company has defined its targeted audience, i.e. it knows that whom it wants to serve in the huge market of customers it will become easier for the company to design the product accordingly, price it rightly, place it appropriately and promote it respectively. Knowing target market not only helps in giving a direction the marketing efforts but also ultimately helps in increasing the profitability ratios. It helps in saving extra cost that could be incurred if the company has not defined its target audience and have launched the product.
Target marketing also involves the concept of market segments. People can be segmented into different groups on the basis of the traits they possess. For example
• Geographic segmentation
• Demographic segmentation
• Psychographic segmentation
The concept of target market can be better explained with the help of different examples. The Rolex is a well-known brand of watches. Its target market is well defined and it is the ALLETE class of the society, Rolex better serves its target market and focuses on them. Rolex watches are not meant for the people so they are not the primary focus of the company. The design, quality, features, pricing etc are done by keeping in mind the upper class hence that helps the brand gain loyalty, customer satisfaction and brand affinity.
References
Mark Moehlman, (2010), "Target Market", BeWrite Books, pg 264