To Have Success in Internet Marketing You Must First Make Your Target Market Selection

Written on October 30, 2009 – 12:31 pm | by Scott Hubbard

I work everyday with corporate professionals who are looking to leave their jobs and get into the internet marketing industry. Their first question is, “How do I get started?” The next question is, “How do I get prospects coming to me?”

Many have pieced together their own marketing strategy and put it into practice. But if they are not attracting leads, they need to go back to the drawing board.

Failure to make a good target market selection will result in poor marketing results. You must identify the niche market you want to address.

If you are marketing skin care products, you can’t target eveyone who has skin.

I broke the news to her that by following that approach, she would probably never have much success. She needed to significantly reduce the size of the market she was targeting. Why not go after a large market (all people with skin)? After all, there are many people in the market. Surely, you could find many who are interested in what you have to offer.

But it doesn’t work that way. For one thing, you must stand out in a crowd. If you are going after a huge market, you will find it very competitive. How will your prospect even find you? Just google “skin care products” and see how many pieces of marketing are out there - in the millions. You don’t have a chance.

Here’s another critical point. If you are targeting such a large market, this group of people has many different needs. But you don’t know what these specific needs are.

Your company may offer the greatest skin products ever invented. But if the your products don’t match your market’s needs, you won’t get a sale.

When your target market is large, there are many websites offering the same products as you. This strong competition reduces your chance of making a sale.

The prospects in your target market have specific needs. Your website or blog must address those needs, answer their specific questions, and solve their specific problem.

The general category, skin care products, can be broken down into much smaller niche markets. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, listed below are three target markets. For best results, they can be reduced even further.

1. This market has tried many skin care products that have failed to provide the results they are looking for. 2. This market consists of people who have a specific skin condition. They are looking for someone who understands their situation and can solve their problem. 3. This market consists of baby boomers. They are looking for products that can solve their aging skin problem. How do you stand out from all the other anti-aging skin products that are being promoted on the internet?

Obviously, you need to make a narrow target market selection in order to be successful. You must take an educational approach to your marketing - never promotional. What are we trying to accomplish here?

First of all, you will find far less competition in a fairly narrow niche market.

Second, you must determine exactly what your market is looking for.

What kind of problems do they have? What makes them lose sleep at night? Do they have wants and needs that need to be filled? What kind of dreams do they have? What questions do they have that need to be answered?

Your marketing campaign and your blog or website should give your prospect the answers to their problems and questions. It should show that their dreams can be attained. Where do you go to find out the needs of your niche market?

Go where the people in your target market hang out. Find blogs, forums, or message boards related to your niche market. Here you can find out what questions are being asked and those that are not being answered properly. Go online and search for keywords related to your niche market. Find gaps or issues that are not being properly addressed. This research takes time but is very beneficial.

Or you can go directly to a person in your target market and ask them these questions.

If you know what the people in your niche market need and want, you can then provide them with educational information that shows you understand their situation.

Your blog or website and your entire marketing campaign should deal with the problems of your market. You should give them some solutions to their problems. If a woman searches for a subject on the internet and sees that you understand her situation, she will be open to what you have to say.

Here is my suggestion. Make a list of several possible target markets. Then select only one to address first. Hold onto the list of the markets you did not choose. You can very possibly market to those groups later.

Make a target market selection. Keep an open mind as you research that market on the internet. You may find new trends in the marketplace that you can address. You may find the need for products that are not offered. This gives you an opportunity to address these issues.

Internet marketing has enabled Scott Hubbard to retire from his Chief Financial Officer position of 25 years in corporate America. He now assists corporate professionals and serious network marketers in developing their own “guide to retirement” plan.

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