Ten Critical Questions to Ask BEFORE You Choose A Target Market
You have heard me preach over and over again, choose a target market.
This isn’t going to be any different. Successful agents who want to get control of their business, spend less money, time and energy know that a niche market is one of the best ways to achieve all this.
But before you just jump right in and start spending money and time, it’s important that you ask yourself these 10 critical questions BEFORE you select your target market. This will help you not only find the right market, but also help you get your services into the right hands sooner, with less hassle and more effectively.
1) Who is my target market?
What can I find out about them? What is their age, income, occupation? You want to look for measurable stats. This will help you get a better handle on who you are working with.
2) What is their lifestyle?
What are they into? What do they do for fun? What type of music are they into? Etc. By knowing what they are into, you can get a better idea of what makes them tick, and this will also give you opportunities to reach them.
3) Can I see myself working with this group?
Just because it may be a profitable group to target, is it going to be a demographic you want to spend your time with? Just remember, when you are committed to mastering your niche, you are going to be spending a lot of time with these people so make sure you are prepared.
4) Do you have any “ins” with this group?
Are you part of their demographic? Do you have any connections with the group? If you have an “in” with the right target audience, then it can speed up the connection process, and give you opportunities that other agents may not have.
5) What organizations are they part of?
Are they part of any social clubs, organizations, and groups? If you can’t get in from a connection of yours, sometimes being part of the same organizations as your target market can pay off. Plus it may give you a chance to give back to the community, have fun and meet new people while you are at it.
6) What media are they consuming?
What websites, newspapers, and magazines are they reading? This will give you an opportunity to get your marketing into their hands more effectively. If you can position your message in the right media outlets, you can get a much better response.
7) What problems do they have?
Will my niche market/idea solve a problem for my market? Do they have problems that need solving? The best way to get your service in front of your audience is to solve a problem they are facing. For example, if your audience has trouble finding legal basement apartments, then create a program or system that gets them the access to any and all legal apartments.
8) How are they communicating?
Knowing the right language or “lingo” can definitely help get you into the right audience. If you are dealing with Business executives, they are probably going to have a different dialogue than a first time buyer family. So figure out what your audience is talking about and learn it.
9) How can you get their attention?
Are they already bombarded by marketing messages? How can you get your message into their hands? How can you ensure it will keep their attention? Each audience is going to have a different approach.
10) Who are the influencers?
Who is influencing this group? Who do they respect? What causes or values are they aligning themselves with? Know who is influencing them allows for opportunities to get in front of them as well as create credibility.
If you didn’t realize it before this, I’m sure you have a better idea of what it’s going to take to choose the right audience. Don’t tread lightly; choosing the right target audience can be the difference between average success and exceptional success. But also, don’t let yourself fall victim to analysis paralysis either. Make sure you get started!
To you and your niche,
Ryan Smith – The Niche Agent
