SMEs must define a clear target audience

19 May 2010 09:44:19

A marketing consultancy firm has identified good marketing and a clear target audience as key factors when it comes to running a business.

Brand New Way's director, Peter Hawtin, has stated that small businesses must push "the most compelling message" to their customers by identifying who they are.

Mr Hawtin also added that he felt the majority of small businesses did not understand the meaning of marketing or who they were aiming their product at.

He continued that marketing and advertising were different, and that effective marketing was about solving customers' problems profitably.

"The first part of marketing is getting very clear about the target audience," Mr Hawtin advised. "The second part is [to ask] 'what is the problem the business is trying to solve?', as far as the consumer is concerned, which may be different to the way the business sees it.

"Thirdly, once you know who you are talking to, [ask yourself] 'what is the solution?'. And doing the whole thing profitably is asking how you derive the most compelling message which differentiates you from your competitors."