The Short Answer

What Is a Target Market?

Textbook Definition

A target market is a specific group of potential customers, defined by shared characteristics such as needs, location, size, or behavior, toward which a business directs its products and marketing efforts.

In Plain English

Your target market is the kind of customer your business is built to serve best. Not anyone. A specific group you could describe in one sentence: what they need, how often, where they are, and what they will pay.

Why It Matters

Why Does Marketing to Everyone Bring in No One?

It feels like confidence. Anything, anyone, any time. But to the person reading it, a message for everyone reads like a message for nobody. Nobody feels it was written for them. The people who do call tend to be shopping on price, because nothing else in the message gave them a reason.

Meanwhile, your best customers go unnoticed, because they never cause trouble. They pay on time, they come back, and they do not haggle. Your target market is usually hiding in plain sight, in the customers you think of as boring.

Signs you have this problem:

  • Your ads or flyers say "anything for anyone."
  • Most of your new customers haggle on price.
  • You have many one-time customers and few repeat ones.
  • You spend more time chasing new jobs than serving regulars.
  • Your best customers are spread across "everyone" in your marketing.
  • You cannot say in one sentence who your business is for.
You already know who your best customers are. They are the ones you never worry about. Start by noticing them.

What It Looks Like

What It Looks Like When the Best Customers Are the Boring Ones

From the Fabled Forest · Chapter 1

Dumpster Dani printed six hundred flyers that said WE HAUL ANYTHING FOR ANYONE and put them on every door in the forest, and on a tree with no door at all. Her truck still came back empty. The calls she did get were pianos across the forest, from customers who haggled.

Doctor Owl had her sort three months of customers, not jobs, into two lists. Twenty-six one-time hauls: nine haggled, four paid late, nobody called twice. And eleven small shops on the square and the coast road with weekly pickups. The eleven paid more, on time, and took a third of the driving. "The boring ones," Dani said.

She wrote one sentence: small shops on the square and coast road, weekly pickup, no truck of their own. Then who she was not for. Her drivers counted thirty more shops like that and hand-delivered thirty cards. In a month, nine signed up. Less driving, no haggling, and Dani said no to her next piano.

Dani's story is Chapter 1 of Marketing for Small Businesses, Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.

The Fix

How to Find Your Target Market in 5 Steps

You do not need a survey. You need your own records and an honest hour.

  1. List your customers from the last few months.

    Not the jobs. The people or businesses. Sort your sales records by customer instead of by date.

  2. Mark the good ones.

    Who paid on time, came back, did not argue about price, and did not cost you an afternoon to serve? Check what each brought in against what it took.

  3. Find what the good ones have in common.

    The kind of business or person, the location, the need, the size, how often they buy. That pattern is your target customer.

  4. Write two sentences.

    "We are for ______." Then "We are not for ______." The second one is harder, and it matters as much.

  5. Aim your next marketing at the first sentence only.

    Count how many more like them exist. Then reach those people directly, with a message written for them.

Dr. Paul's Insight

The most common mistake is being afraid to narrow, because it feels like turning customers away. You are not. You will still take the right job when it calls. You are just no longer spending your marketing money to find the wrong ones. A narrow message often brings in more customers, not fewer, because the right people finally recognize themselves in it.

Worked Example: Two Lists, Side by Side 26 one-time customers: about $1,300 total, with 9 who haggled and 2 who never paid in full. 11 weekly shop customers: about $1,650 over the same three months, paid on time. The shops took about a third of the driving. More revenue, less cost, no flyers. Six hundred printed flyers at about $0.25 each cost $150. Thirty hand-delivered cards cost about $8 and brought 9 new regular customers. Figures are an illustration to show the math, not a projection for your business.

Sample: A Target Market Worksheet

Two sentences, written from your own customer list.

Business: Local hauling serviceBased on: Last 3 months of customers
Our best customers have in commonSmall shops, on two main streets, weekly trash and boxes, no vehicle of their own.
We are forSmall shops on the square and coast road that need a weekly pickup.
We are not forOne-time hauls across the county, or anyone who starts with "how low can you go."
How many more exist30 shops like this that are not customers yet.
How we will reach them30 cards, hand-delivered, mentioning a current customer.

Sample for illustration. Use your own records.

Watch

Video: How to Find Your Target Market From Your Own Customer List

Video Coming Soon

How to Find Your Target Market, With Examples

Dr. Paul sorts a customer list into two groups and writes the two sentences on screen.

From the Book

I've Been Chasing Pianos

Chapter 1 · Target Market

Anything for Anyone: A Raccoon's Flyer

Dani looked at the two columns for a while.

"The boring ones," she said.

"The boring ones."

"I've been chasing pianos." She sat down on an upturned crate. "I've been chasing pianos across the forest for two coins less than the price, and the stationer's been standing there every Tuesday with her hand up."

What one sentence did Dani write, and how many shops said yes? Find out in Chapter 1. Book 4 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.

Get the Book on Amazon →

FAQ

Target Market Questions

How do I find my target market?
Start with your existing customers. List them, mark the ones who are profitable, loyal, and easy to serve, and look for what they have in common, such as type, location, need, or size. Write one sentence describing that group, then aim your marketing at it.
What is the difference between a target market and a target customer?
A target market is the whole group of customers your business is built to serve. A target customer, sometimes called an ideal customer, is one member of that group described clearly enough that you would recognize them walking in the door.
Will narrowing my target market lose me customers?
Usually not. You can still serve customers outside your target when the job fits. Narrowing your marketing means you stop spending money to attract poor-fit customers, and your message becomes clear enough that good-fit customers recognize it is meant for them.
What are target market examples for a small business?
Examples include "busy parents within five miles who want weekday dinners delivered," "small retail shops on Main Street that need weekly cleaning," or "first-time homebuyers in the county looking for an inspection." Each names who, what they need, and where.

Keep Going

Related Foundations

Your target market connects five foundations. Every other marketing decision starts here. New to a term on this page? Every one is in the marketing glossary.

Foundation 2 · Market Segmentation

Most businesses have two to four segments inside their market.

Foundation 20 · Relationship Marketing

Once you know who they are, build relationships with them.

Foundation 5 · Value Proposition

Write a value proposition aimed at your target customer.

Foundation 16 · Marketing Attribution

Track which customers your marketing actually brings in.

Foundation 10 · Direct Marketing

Reach your target market directly with a short, personal list.
← Back to the GuideAll 20 Marketing Foundations

Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant and author who helps owners get found by the right customers. Want help finding the customers your business is built for? See business growth plan options.

This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or other professional advice. Trademark, privacy, and advertising rules vary, so talk with a qualified professional before registering a name, collecting customer data, or making claims about a competitor. Dollar figures are illustrations. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.