Do you know your Target Market?

Do you know your Target Market?

I was recently in Florida for a family vacation visiting my parents.  My wife and I took our 6, 2, and 1 yr old down for 10 days.  Because we flew from NY we could only pack so much stuff.  To make the trip possible we needed a crib and other baby supplies.  Luckily, my parents knew of a  local church that loaned free cribs and baby supplies to the locals that needed them on a short term basis.

How does this have anything to do with knowing your target audience?  Let's break this down.  What is the demographic of Sanibel, Florida?  It is made up of mostly retirees.  What do retirees have a ton of?  Grandchildren.

Finally, what is the goal of this local church?  Setting aside the spiritual goal to look at the business goal... it is to gain members.

By loaning out (for free) the cribs and baby suppliers they show that they fully understand their target market.  Retirees are notoriously cheap, so anything free draws them in.  In addition,  churches aren't interested in a one time transaction with their parishioners.  They want a long-term relationship.  So, instead of charging a one-time fee for the baby suppliers the church hopes to create a bond where the local population comes back again and again, except now they are coming back as members who donate on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis.

Once you know your target community, making decisions on how best to support them becomes incredibly easy and this will help you meet your long term business goals.