Creating Customer Profiles Consumer Profiles & Marketing Research

What is a target Market? A target market is any group of consumers to whom marketers want to sell their products and services Companies break down their most likely customer by age, gender, race, occupation, salary level, geography, interests, and any other characteristic that is common amongst these consumers Psychographics are a person’s feelings, beliefs

Consumer Profiles The more companies know about their potential customers, the better they are able to anticipate or influence their customers’ buying decisions Marketers create consumer profiles of the kind of people most likely to be attracted to a specific product

Consumer Profiles Companies then take these consumers and create marketing groups of consumers that share similar interests and buying habits This enables marketers to ensure that their marketing efforts are directed at the correct group of consumers, the ones that will be most interested in the product

Consumer Profiles Companies divide their consumer profiles between the: Primary Market – the most likely consumer Secondary Market – other, occasional consumers Although companies spend the majority of the marketing budget on the primary market, they do allocate some to the secondary market

Consumer Profiles Knowledge of consumer profiles affects the following elements of a marketing plan Distribution Methods – how to best deliver the product to the consumer Advertising – helps advertisers create meaningful messages Product Design – consumers in a target market tend to like the same colours, shapes, materials, and other design features Media – helps marketers send the promotional message to the right target audience

Where does the info come from? There are 3 types of research that businesses use to discover trends affecting their target customers Primary research Involves collecting the information yourself through direct contact with potential customers Much more expensive but usually more detailed and useful Secondary research Involves using information that has already been collected by others Much cheaper but not always relevant or applicable Internal research Involves using a businesses own records to gather information about potential customers

Forms of marketing research There are a number of forms that primary marketing research can take Survey Questionnaire to find information Conducted by phone, mail, online, or in person Observation Staying detached from the potential customer, simply watching from a distance Experimentation / product sampling Testing the product or service with a small number of potential customers to determine reaction