marketing at first sight

One of the most valuable lessons I have taken from my marketing class to-date is how essential having a focused target market is to the success of any business. Going wrong on that one aspect could be disastrous, from hampering the company’s progress to being much more vulnerable to swings in the market.

“You can’t be everything to everyone” is a statement any new business should carefully consider before diving into an industry. Having a clearly defined target market means a more effective marketing strategy, and the ability to quickly respond to changing customer demands.

Some of Solarway’s products. Screenshot from solarway.com

I read up this company called Solarway that provides affordable solar power solutions to homes without reliable access to electricity. Looking at its positioning statement, it’s clear who Solarway’s target market is: “Solarway is a forward-thinking creative think tank that develops personalised and sustainable power solutions for people with limited or no access to power”. You will likely not find Solarway producing solar pannels for a company, simply because customers that need large-scale solar power solutions are not what the company targets.

Another important lesson I learned is that a company does not have to segment its markets based on just demographics (age, occupation, income level, gender, etc.); other factors (psychographics) such as values, interests, attitudes, etc. are also possible factors to look at.