<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The first step to developing any type of marketing strategy for your business is to find your target audience. Your target audience is the&nbsp;group or groups of people that you want&nbsp;your marketing efforts to be directed to.&nbsp;Examples of&nbsp;marketing&nbsp;efforts include&nbsp;social media campaigns, paid advertisements, or email marketing campaigns.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Marketing strategies that&nbsp;are customized to your target audience tend to be more successful than any other broad marketing strategy.&nbsp;Why is this? Because customers, whether they are buying a product or service, like to feel as if they matter.&nbsp;They enjoy the special personalized touches in the marketing like including their name, location, their interests, or occupations.&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>So,&nbsp;how do you find out who your target audience is?&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/20i2-PuWq6o","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} -->
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/20i2-PuWq6o
</div></figure>
<!-- /wp:embed -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 id="h-1-survey-your-current-customers">1. Survey your Current Customers</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>You want to find out what types of people will buy your product or service, right? Who better to ask than the people already buying from&nbsp;you?&nbsp;Take a customer out for a cup of coffee and take the time to get to know them and ask them questions. You could also get together&nbsp;some of your current customers for a focus group or&nbsp;send out an email survey to them. Here are some examples of questions to ask them.&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:list -->
<ul><li>How did they find your company?&nbsp;</li><li>What made them choose you?&nbsp;</li><li>What do they like about your marketing strategy?&nbsp;</li><li>What do they not like about your marketing strategy?&nbsp;</li></ul>
<!-- /wp:list -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 id="h-2-analyze-the-demmographics">2. Analyze the Demmographics</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Before moving forward with a marketing strategy,&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;important to analyze the customer base you already have.&nbsp;When analyzing your current customer base and working to develop a target audience,&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;important to&nbsp;use&nbsp;key demographics.&nbsp;Once those demographics are narrowed down, it will be easier to tailor your marketing&nbsp;to each person in your audience or audience segment. Here are some demographics that we recommend taking note of.&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:list -->
<ul><li>Age&nbsp;</li><li>Location&nbsp;</li><li>Gender&nbsp;</li><li>Occupation&nbsp;</li><li>Marital Status&nbsp;</li><li>Hobbies/Interests&nbsp;</li><li>Buying Habits&nbsp;</li><li>Income&nbsp;</li><li>Personality Types&nbsp;</li><li>Customer Pain Points&nbsp;</li></ul>
<!-- /wp:list -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 id="h-3-evaluate-the-competition">3. Evaluate the Competition</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>When developing a marketing strategy, it is also important to&nbsp;look&nbsp;at the competitor’s customer base. Who is your competitor targeting and how are they doing it?&nbsp;This is&nbsp;a great way&nbsp;to find any missing gaps in your target audience. You may find a&nbsp;type of customer&nbsp;that&nbsp;does not&nbsp;fit into one of your&nbsp;existing&nbsp;audience segments.&nbsp;One of the ways you can evaluate your competition is by looking at their reviews and social media. Who is following and interacting with them on their accounts?&nbsp;Who is leaving reviews about their product or service and is it positive or negative?&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 id="h-4-communicate">4. Communicate</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>As you grow your business, the best way to continuously define your target market is to communicate with them. Use your website, reviews,&nbsp;GoogleMyBusiness&nbsp;page, and social media accounts to interact with current and potential customers. This includes responding to comments and messages, liking posts, and&nbsp;generating interactive content on social media to prompt them to interact.&nbsp;Interactive content can be a creative way of gathering valuable information from current or prospective clients. Here are some of our suggestions for interactive content!&nbsp;</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:list -->
<ul><li>A post that&nbsp;prompts directly&nbsp;<ul><li>What is your favorite season?&nbsp;</li><li>Tell us your favorite color&nbsp;</li><li>Post a picture of your dog&nbsp;</li></ul></li><li>Contests&nbsp;</li><li>Use of hashtags&nbsp;</li><li>Polls&nbsp;</li><li>Quizzes&nbsp;</li></ul>
<!-- /wp:list -->