Small Business Tax Center
Small Business Ideas, Grants &
Plans to Start & Run a Business:

Small Business Grants
CyberSchmooz
Network in Cyberschmooz Community Ask Questions Questions and Answers Share Tips Small Business Ideas List Your Business Business Advice from Idea Cafe Experts Coffee Talk with Experts Starting A Business Business Plan Biz Planning | Sample Plans Small Business Ideas Idea Name Your Biz Name Plan Your Biz Plan Financing $ Starting a Business Do It! Running your Business Marketing Tips Promotional Merchandise Marketing Tips Marketing | Sales | Customers Human Resources HR | Employees | Contractors Legal Forms & Tax Information Legal | Biz Forms Managing a Business Managing | Operations
Financing Resources Financing Your Business E Commerce & Webhosting eCommerce Take Out Info Trade Publications FREE Trade Publications Business Books Biz Books Your Own Business Small Business News Small Biz News Gen X Biz Gen X Biz Work at Home Work @ Home Business Information The Fridge - Biz Info on Ice Destress Send Awards Send Awards & Greetings Yoga At Your Desk Yoga @ Your Desk Fun Guide Guide to Find FUN Online About Idea Cafe Press Idea Cafe has received Idea Cafe in the News Idea Cafe's Kudos Kudos for Idea Cafe Advertise on Idea Cafe Advertise on Idea Cafe Privacy Policy Privacy Policy Contact Idea Cafe Contact Idea Cafe Link to Idea Cafe Link to/from Idea Cafe Join Idea Cafe
Search Idea Cafe Site Directory Site Map Online directory to business resources Biz Web Guide



Article from a Guest Expert

color business bar

Tips For Expanding Your Target Market

It’s come time for you to look into expanding your business, and you’re ready to get started. Increasing your product availability and target audience can mean great things for your bottom line. Try these business-boosting tactics and increase your profits.

     Research

Before you do anything else, you need to put the resources and time into researching your target audience. If you plan on making a major expansion, you’ll need to revisit your business plan, and make adjustments accordingly. Assess your own company: where are you right now? Where do you expect to be in five, 10, or 15 years’ time?

Find out which demographic you need to target to make your business a bigger success. Make use of the many analytical tools and software that are available to you. Track the people who visit your company website, find out who is interested in your product or service, and calculate ways to better market to them. This new audience may be very similar to your current audience, or they could require a completely different marketing strategy. Thorough analysis should let you know whether there is growth potential; if not, it will save you from wasting time and energy on an expansion that won’t ever become lucrative.

     Go Big, Go International

Take examples from companies who have made it big by expanding internationally. Tipsy Elves ugly Christmas sweaters were originally only available in the United States. After becoming a huge hit, the company expanded their products to include patriotic apparel appropriate for any occasion. Their offerings include items designed for residents of Canada and the UK, which expanded their market exponentially.

Find out how your service or product can translate into a foreign market. Does this area have a need for your product? Are there already comparable items readily available in this area? You’ll need to find an area that’s starving for what you produce, and capitalize on the fact that you’re the only or best source they can get it from.

There are plenty of resources that can help you dip your toe into the process and find out if going international is a viable option for your business. Contact the International Trade Association, or if your company is on the smaller side, check out the information in the Small Business Export Guide from the U.S. House Committee on Small Business.

     Increase Flexibility

Change is unavoidable, but company growth is not a given. No doubt your market has changed in the time since your business’ inception, but have you changed with it? Businesses must constantly adapt to better reach their consumer, and maybe your target market has changed. Or, perhaps your service has changed and you now need to target a completely different demographic. Whatever the case, be ready to tweak your goals, production techniques, or marketing campaigns if the need arises.

     Use Teamwork

Cross-promotion can do wonderful things to increase your target market. Teaming up with another company that may produce a different product or service but caters to a similar consumer market can be invaluable to increasing your customer base. Think Spotify and Uber’s genius partnership: the ability for Uber customers to play their own music during their rides gives them an incentive to upgrade to Spotify Premium.

A strategic partnership can increase business traffic without sacrificing resources on excessive marketing campaigns. It can be as simple as directly sending your customers to your partner, and vice versa—hand out coupons for your business partner, and let them do the same for you.

How Can You Make Social Media Work For You?

Connecting with your consumers can be of utmost importance to a successful business, but make sure your social media campaigns aren’t costing you valuable resources without providing a beneficial return. Remain with your core audience. If they’re not spending a majority of time on Facebook, don’t waste time and money campaigning to an audience that won’t be there. If your business is attention-grabbing, can serve a variety of people, and is something unlike anything else, social media can be a great tool to utilize. If your services are more adept to serving a particular niche that may not be active on social media, it may not be in your best interests to put too much effort into expanding through these specific channels.

     Finance Fanatic

Planning and understanding your finances will become more important than ever when you decide to start expanding your business and target market. Before jumping in, understand if your pricing will be competitive within this new market. Will you be able to make a profit from this new venture? If the answer to either of these questions is a resounding no, then you may need to reassess your expansion.

Expanding your target market means a lot of extra work and time, but it can lead to great rewards. Try these tips and get your business on the road to expansion.

 

Google      

Small Business Tax CenterIdea Cafe HomeSign UpBiz Grant CenterCyberSchmoozCoffee Talk with ExpertsPeople in Biz ProfilesStarting Your BizBiz PlanningRunning Your BizFREE Trade PublicationsMarketingFinancing Your BizHuman ResourcesLegal & Biz FormsManaging Your BizeCommerceYou and Your BizGen XWork@HomeThe FridgeDe-StressSend an AwardSend an eGreetingYoga @ Your DeskWeb GuideIdea Cafe in the NewsAbout Idea CafeAdvertise on Idea CafeContact UsPrivacy PolicySite MapSmall Biz News

Copyright 1995-2024, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.

DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages.

TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.