Understanding your market: Who are they and what are they like?

By now you’ve gone through the first two of my 3-part series on How to Choose a Profitable Niche for Your Online Business. You’ve brain-stormed ideas and compiled a list of 10 potential niche markets that interest you.

 

Next, you should have tackled some keyword research to determine the interest level people have in each of your 10 markets. The resulting information steered you and helped you narrow your potential profitable niche market down to a list of your top 3-5 markets. Ta-da!

 

Now it’s time to learn the buzz surrounding those markets and get a feel for what their real concerns are. You’ll do this by gathering information and learning buying trends from social media sites, forums, message boards, discussion groups, retail powerhouses and the list goes on.

 

This will take some sleuthing on your part, but will be well worth the time and effort. There are so many resources and free online tools out there to help you further refine your research, (certainly much more than can fit in this blog post).

 

You need to know what people are posting about. Read, and even join some of the discussions and chats. Learn what they’re focused on, ask questions. Why are they searching that product, service or topic? Are they motivated by pleasure or pain? What kind of money is already being spent in that market for similar products and services?

 

You can start by simply doing a Google search of one of the top niche markets you’re exploring. Make sure to add the word “forum” or “discussion group” behind your keyword. For example, if your market is eczema, then Google “eczema discussion groups” or “eczema message boards” etc.  Get right into their "minds" and you’ll gain powerful insight into their problems, their issues, their concerns and their desires. You can then tailor your marketing efforts be the very solution they’re looking for.

 

At this point, you’ll be getting a sense about the final one or two markets that you want to target. It’s ok to research just those two. You can always refer back to your list later if you change your mind and want to focus on a different market. Remember, you’re looking for a potentially profitable market, not one that just "sounds good" to you you.  After you've done your thorough market research, you will settle on the one target market that your gut tells you to go with. Now you need to get laser focused for the next step.

Defining Your Avatar

 

Avatar is simply a term for your ideal customer, that sweet-spot customer. Ask yourself: "Who is the ideal person most likely to want or need my product/service?" (or home-business opportunity). What are the specific characteristics that make them ideal?

 

 

You may not have all the answers, but you can get a pretty good idea. Remember, not everybody is your potential customer. There is a specific audience of people with similar characteristics, each looking for something and you’re looking to be the one they turn to to get it. Answer the following questions about your avatar:

 

• Male or female?
• Age?
• Married? If so, is their spouse supportive or skeptical?
• Kids? (How many, and what ages? What's their relationship like with their kids?
• What do they do for a living?
• What is their biggest fear or frustration about buying your product or joining you (what's their skepticism?)
• What do they want more than anything in the world? (What's their ultimate desired outcome?)
• Whose opinions matter most to them?
• What do they value most? (This is similar, but it's the reason WHY they want that ultimate outcome. (eg.example, freedom, autonomy, deeper love life, confidence, significance, security, etc.)
• What are their biggest problems and/or challenges? (physical and emotional)
  
• What frustrations and pains are they dealing with?
• What have they done and/or tried up to this point to attempt to get a solution to their problems/challenges?

 

 

The more market research you do, the clearer you'll become about your target market. You want to learn their buying and interest, trends and behaviors. Here are some sites where you can do research online to gain valuable information about not just your niche market, but your potential competitors.

Amazon.com

Quantcast.com

Compete.com

SpyFu.com

 

 

By now, you’ve most likely formed your opinion, or have a gut instinct about the ultimate market you want to target and the type of customer who’s most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. You’re ready to start making a profit, so it’s time to take action!

 

You’ve done the preliminary research. If you’re not feeling 100% comfortable with it, do more research. You want to feel excited and motivated to launch your marketing campaign and build your online presence around your target market. So if you’re feeling hesitant, it’s best to do more research. You can always change your niche.

 

So, off you go on a big adventure toward finalizing your target market. Stay focused, expect change, the best results will surely come.

 

 Related Posts: Part 1: How to Choose a Profitable Niche For Your Online Business

                         Part 2: How to Choose a Profitable Niche For Your Online Business

 

 

If you liked this article or found it to be helpful, I’d love to hear about it - leave me a comment below. As always, please feel free to share a link to this article using one of the buttons below. Ciao!

 

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