A presentation for entrepreneurs and marketers that discusses the importance of defining your target market. Research basics are outlined, and basic steps for developing and executing a research plan are outlined. The basics of consumer profiles and personas are touched on. The presentation also discusses the benefits and uses of a defined target market, and how to utilize it inside and outside your organization. Presented for Start Garden in Grand Rapids, MI. http://startgarden.com

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Defining Your Target
Customer
Emily Gremel
Strategist, Square One Design
November 6, 2013

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Agenda

Overview

Research Basics

Research Process





Objectives and Methods
Writing Questions
Recruiting Respondents
Secondary Research
Analyzing Results

Audience Profiles

Personas

Applications

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ACTIVITY
Introduce yourself! Please share:
•
Your name
•
Your background
•
One thing you want to learn today

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Overview

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Target market and target audience are
interchangeable, and refer to the group
of potential consumers with similar
attributes.

Terminology

Target consumer and target customer
are also interchangeable, and refer to a
theoretical “person” who embodies the
common attributes of your target market.

Consumer or audience profiles and
personas are ways to display common
attributes of your target audience as
easy-to-use tools.

There are two types: aspirational and
actual.

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Why Bother?

Even with limited resources, you can implement more surefire
marketing and sales initiatives.

It’s exhausting trying to be everything for everyone!

Leads to better market research opportunities in the future.

Everyone within your organization will be on the “same page”.

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ACTIVITY
Can you name a product or service that is truly for EVERYONE?

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Why your target market isn’t “everyone”

Is your product or service meeting a need for everyone? It’s
unlikely.

It’s not always complex.

Start small - don’t get ahead of yourself!

Communication with your customer is key.

Marketing to everyone is expensive!

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ACTIVITY
How many different “target audiences” do you think you have?

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How many target audiences should
I have?

Varies depending on product or service

Must be distinct differences between target audience groupings

Must be representative of actual buyers – no fictional buyers

Remember to start small

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Research Basics

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Primary vs. Secondary Research

Primary Research: Research specifically designed and
conducted for your project

Secondary Research: Research conducted by a third party with
no relation to your own research, which is later analyzed and
applied to your project

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Research Methods
Primary
Research
•
•
•
•
•
•
Focus Groups
Surveys
Interviews
Observation
Experimentation
Open Forums
Secondary
Research
•
•
•
•
•
Journals
Industry Press
Research Reports
Competitor Information
Other third party data
Aggregation
Combining multiple
sources and findings to
project realistic,
meaningful findings.

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Qualitative Research

Denotes quality of responses

Number of respondents is secondary to the quality of individual
responses

No set minimum for number of participants

Typically is conducted as primary research

Examples:



Longer, one-on-one interviews with a few potential customers
Open-ended questions like, “Tell me about your job responsibilities.”
Visiting a store or office with a potential customer and observing their
behavior

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Quantitative Research

Denotes quantity of responses

Quality of individual responses is secondary to the number of respondents

Typically not considered reliable data unless sample size is greater than
30

Could be primary or secondary research

Examples:




Short surveys given online, over the phone, or in person to a large audience
Closed-ended questions like “Have you ever read the New York Times?”
Questions where results can be easily analyzed as a group, like “On a scale of
1 to 10 , how would you rate your interest in American Idol?”
Observation over a long period of time, observing large quantities of people
completing a specific task or behavior

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Research Process
•
•
•
•
•
Objectives and Methods
Writing Questions
Recruiting Respondents
Secondary Research
Analyzing Results

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Developing a Research Plan

Understand what you want to learn before you attempt to do
research.

Prepare a list of specific items you’re trying to touch on.

Align objectives with research methods to create a plan that
meets your needs and resource capabilities.

Keep it realistic!

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Consumer Research Objectives
Examples
Defining Your Market

Analyze existing customers to
uncover trends in
demographics, behavior

Develop a cursory profile of
your target consumer

Understand their basic
interactions with your brand and
competitors
Understanding Your Market

Track their media habits

Uncover their motivations for
purchase and use

Use problems and pain points
to make product innovations

Test new product concepts on
likely customers

Develop a sound messaging
strategy that resonates with the
target audience

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ACTIVITY
With a partner, discuss one characteristic you would like to learn
about your target market. Also name one thing you don’t think you
need to learn about your target market.
Was there any overlap?

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
One-on-one Interview

Focus Group

Survey (qualitative or quantitative)

Observation
Selecting a Method

Experimentation
Make sure you choose the best format
for achieving your objectives.

A/B Testing

Open Forums

Usability Testing

Secondary Research

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Create an Outline

Once you have selected a research method, create an outline
to alleviate stress and stay organized.

Craft an introduction to get respondents comfortable.

Group related questions under the same topic for ease of
organization, and to help the respondent track with your
questions.

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Question Flow

Begin with simple questions to get your respondent
comfortable.

Move through your outlined topics by starting with more general
questions, and delving into specifics later in the survey.

If using scales or rating systems, stay consistent.

Demographic questions should be asked at the very beginning
or very end of the survey – personal preference.

23. Types of Questions
Dichotomous questions:
 Yes/No
 Used Product/Did Not Use Product
 Male/Female*

+

Likert Scale:
 Strongly Agree
 Agree
 Neutral/Don’t Know
 Disagree
 Strongly Disagree

Rating Scale:
 Number scales: 1-5, 1-7, and 1-10 are
most commonly used.
 Other scales: Excellent, very good, good,
acceptable, poor.

Open-ended
 Word association
 Uninstructed
 Can be long or short format
You may use a blend of question types
depending on your format and
objectives.

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Crafting Questions
DON’T
DO

When using a scale, define the
scale and try to be consistent.

Probe and clarify open-ended
responses.


Offer “other” or “N/A” responses
whenever possible or
necessary.
Allow respondents to move on if
a question confuses or
frustrates them.

Bias respondents by calling it
“your product”. Call the product
by its name.

Change inflection, tone, or hint
at your own preferences.

Cut respondents off in the
middle of a thought.

Attempt to guess at answers,
especially demographics (like
gender, race, age, income).

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ACTIVITY:
With a partner, please try to rewrite these questions:
•
•
Why do you like my product?
Rate how much you like Facebook on a scale of 1-10.

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Recruiting Respondents: Who?
No target market defined

Use your research to test your
own hypothesis

Start with existing customers
and gather their demographic
information

Start by using a few of the
attributes of your target market


Look for a diverse but
representative demographic
group
Defined target market
If you have multiple target
markets, make sure to gather
data in a way that keeps these
separately

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Recruiting Respondents: How?
Small Budget

Obtain referrals

Speak with existing customers

You can hire a recruitment firm


Look within your own network
to recruit
Large Budget
You can offer incentives to help
aid participation numbers

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You may not have the time to conduct
primary research, or you may already
know enough about your target market
to utilize secondary research.
Competitor information

Secondary
Research

Third-party groups like:
 Forrester Research
 Pew Research
 eMarketer
 Many more…

Government databases including:
 Census
 Bureau of Labor Statistics
 Many more…

Library resources:
 Look for studies related to your
industry or target customers

News and other media

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Analyzing Your Results

Understand that correlation does not always equal causation.

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Analyzing Your Results

When doing quantitative research, you are going to end up with
a lot of data.

Look for instances where the data is “telling a story”.

Just because something is statistically significant doesn’t mean
it’s important.

For example, you might find that almost 100% of people use paper.
That doesn’t mean you need a chart to show it.

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Analyzing Your Results

With qualitative research, you should look for common themes
amongst multiple participants.

In the case of a consumer profile, divergent data could mean
different things:



In one case, if half your consumers are college students and the other
half are parents, it indicates you likely have two target audiences.
In another case, if you find half your consumers don’t use sunscreen in
the summer, it’s likely not a relevant attribute of your target market.
Be wary of picking sound bites just because they support your
hypothesis – is there evidence that the opinion is shared by many?

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Audience Profiles

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What is an Audience Profile?

Small set of attributes for a target audience or customer base

As a design tool, they are a quick way to communicate who the
designer should design for

As marketing communications tool, they provide some details
on the recipient of your message

Profiles can be created with minimal research and time,
whereas their counterpart, personas, are much more detailed
and resource-intensive

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Elements of an Audience Profile

Name

Photo

Demographics

Psychographics

Research-specific findings

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Personas

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What is a Persona?

Detailed set of representative attributes and data for a target
audience or customer base

As a design tool, they are a powerful way to communicate
behaviors, goals, wants, needs and frustrations

As marketing communications tool, they provide insight into
reaching and engaging your customer

Effective personas are driven by research data and focus on
how a particular profile uses a particular application in a given
context

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Elements of a Persona

Name

Motivations & Behaviors

Photo

Verbatim Quotes

Demographics

Background Information

Psychographics

Pain Points and Frustrations

Technographics and Media
Usage

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ACTIVITY
Review the profile and persona examples. Note some differences
between the persona and the audience profile example.

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ACTIVITY
The next several slides outline some benefits of using personas or
audience profiles as tools. Let’s go through each one and discuss
whether it’s a benefit of the persona, the profile, or both.

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To put a face to the
people you want to reach

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To understand how your
customers make purchase
decisions

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To learn how customers
interact with your product or
service

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To understand their
frustrations or pain points

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To enlighten your online
strategy by understanding
their web behaviors

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To understand consumers’
use and interactions with
various media types

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Applications

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ACTIVITY
Think back to some of the benefits of identifying your target market
that we discussed.
What uses can you think of for a audience profile or persona?

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How to interact with and market to
your target customer

Use research to uncover pain points, then use marketing to
exhibit how your product or service alleviates problems

Reach them using media outlets they use frequently

Craft messaging in a tone your audience will be receptive to

Consider different approaches for speaking to different
audiences

If you rely on customer service, use your understanding of the
customers to better aid them

Involve your target market in research for product advances or
new products – make them a part of your team

49. +
Target customers and your staff,
partners, and vendors
STAFF

Utilize target consumer profiles
or personas for training

Help sales target the right
markets or individual buyers

Make a clearer case for funding

Craft a narrative built around a
realistic buying scenario
Aid in product development of
new features

PARTNERS

Give marketing a clear
objective and audience to
speak to
VENDORS

Enlighten vendors with more
detailed specs and
considerations

Empower every part of supply
chain with information

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QUESTIONS?