Offer, market and customers

IDENTIFYING THE NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUP: PERSONAS HELP

If you have a large target group, e.g. in B2C, the so-called "persona concept" helps you to narrow down your clientele. The idea is to create an ideal customer who, in your eyes, will benefit the most from your products or services. A target group analysis based on personas helps you to tailor your offers and products to this ideal customer. Personas are fictitious characters to whom you assign demographic, psychographic and behavioural characteristics. Important guiding questions for narrowing down the target group are, for example:

• What interests does this ideal person have?
• What are their goals and wishes?
• What problems does she have?
• In which media channels does she move?

It is best to create several personas so that all the main representatives of your target group are sufficiently described. Each persona belongs to the analysed target group, but each one represents alternative abilities, goals and desires. According to experts, so-called buyer personas are the better target group because they can be described in more detail and enable a specific customer approach.

WHAT DATA DO YOU NEED FOR A TARGET GROUP ANALYSIS?

In the course of a target group analysis, it is important to determine demographic criteria such as age, gender and marital status. In addition, it is also relevant to collect information about the purchase motivation of your target group as well as to assess their attitude towards price.

A few years ago, research of this kind was time-consuming and cost-intensive. Today, however, there are modern online tools that are also useful for start-ups or new businesses with a rather meagre budget and that deliver targeted analyses. There are even free offers on the internet that help you analyse your target group. However, always make sure that these online offers are up-to-date.

A target group analysis helps you to identify factors that influence the buying decisions of potential customers. This, in turn, shows you where product adjustments may need to be made in order to better satisfy the needs of your target customers.

The following questions provide crucial answers:

• At what time must the product be available?
• What features does it need to have?
• Is there room for improvement?
• Where must the product be available?
• Which channels must be used to find it?
• What does the target group want?
• Where are the problems?
• Can they be solved?
• Who are the influencers?
• What role do price, quality and customer service play?

IF YOU KNOW YOUR TARGET GROUP, YOU WILL ALSO FIND CUSTOMERS.

If you know your target group, you will have an overview of their motivation, wishes and needs. As a result, you will be able to communicate with them more easily. Use this customer information to easily draw up your business plan, for example, because a detailed target group analysis influences marketing and therefore requires a budget. If you have planned for this in the overall financing of your start-up, you will have no problems later with the implementation of marketing or advertising. A target group analysis is part of the presentation when it comes to convincing potential financiers of the innovative power of your business idea. Two aspects of target group analysis play a prominent role:

Perceive and increase customer satisfaction

If you want to achieve sustainable success as a founder, you have to make your customers happy. After all, customer satisfaction is the foundation of your business and at the same time a guarantee for future growth. Writing a professional target group analysis helps you to understand your target group and to be able to react to trends and changes in time. If you analyse, you will also be aware of problems and can proactively respond to requests. Such an approach also convinces banks and investors.

How to attract new customers

If you define a target group, you will automatically recognise matches between your service and your desired customers. This creates the prerequisite for acquiring new customers or converting them into regular customers in the short term. Before you approach them, use your knowledge of what makes potential buyers and clients tick and what added value they expect from your offer.

TARGET GROUP ANALYSIS: METHODS AND IMPLEMENTATION

If you want answers, you have to ask the right questions. Today, you can find numerous tools and providers on the Internet that can help you collect data and evaluate content. For example, you can conduct a target group analysis via social media and use platforms such as

• Facebook
• Instagram and
• Twitter

as analysis tools. "Google Analytics also helps you to collect data for your new business idea.  

Of course, you can also collect data yourself and use online surveys on Facebook to document the buying behaviour of B2C customers, for example. Direct contact in the form of short interviews is also efficient. Just go out into the pedestrian zone and interview people you think might belong to your favourite target group. The internet is also an excellent source for preparing a target group analysis or a template for it. You can find comparative statistics and studies online, and you can even get a quick overview of current trends online. The competition never sleeps and it is certainly interesting to see how your competitors are positioned online.  

But no matter which methods you choose - your own goals should always form the basis for an initial target group definition. Therefore, ask yourself what you can offer with your product before you think about who it could benefit.

In B2C marketing, for example, you directly address end consumers who are supposed to buy your product idea. A target group analysis generates their characteristics, attributes and behaviours according to the following criteria:

Demographic characteristics

For customer-centred marketing you need the following customer data:

• social status: education, occupation, income
• personal life background: gender, age, marital status, children
• Geographical factors: city or country

Psychographic criteria

This refers to characteristics of people's personality and lifestyle that affect their buying behaviour:

• Interests and activities
• Preferences and opinions
• Values and attitudes

Characteristics in buying behaviour

A target group analysis with a questionnaire helps to categorise potential customers and their buying behaviour. The following criteria are relevant:

• Media use for information search
• Shopping behaviour - online or local
• Shopping frequency
• Brand behaviour and purchase volume
• Price behaviour with regard to discounts and price changes

For example, a target group analysis will tell you all the details about the buying behaviour of your customers. You gain insight into their lifestyle, find out why they buy a certain product and how often they do so. In this way, you can determine the appropriate channels for the distribution of your goods or services and build up a solid customer service.