Knowing Your Target Market

Do you have a clear picture of your ideal client? Who are you trying to attract and conversely, not trying to attract? Does everything from your website, marketing material and social media presence reflect that?

My company, Everly, is taking a new approach to wedding planning and thus a new approach to selling a wedding planning service. We target couples who want a great wedding but more than anything, they just want it done. We bring transparency and efficiency to planning and remind couples that they have better ways to spend their time than trying to plan their wedding completely on their own. This resonates with our target market of dual career couples who skew slightly older and are accustom to outsourcing their errands and household tasks.

Contrary to the larger industry, we deliberately stay away from terms such as ‘dream wedding’ and ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ and bring every part of our service back to our core value proposition of ease of use and efficiency.

Does this turn off the bride-to-be who has a dream wedding she has been crafting her entire life? Yes. Are we okay with that? Also, yes.

We have a certain clientele to whom our services are appealing and we understand we are not for everyone. But by being willing to let go of one segment of the market we have been able to make ourselves more appealing to the segment we are trying to attract.

One component of the online planning service Everly offers is targeted vendor recommendations, providing each couple a shortlist of vendors who are a perfect match to their style, budget and priorities. To do this, we need a large database from which to draw to ensure we are always able to refer quality vendors no matter what the request. As such, I frequently connect with vendors to learn about their services and the first question I always ask is about their ideal client.

Some vendors, usually the industry veterans, have a complete picture of who this couple is — even beyond demographics, they can speak to their hypothetical interests, hobbies and personalities. Others do not and try to be all things to all people. This is understandable given that in the early days of a business, the owners may lack the confidence, much less the financial resources, to think they can turn down business.

But by trying to make their services attractive to everyone, they end up not standing out to anyone. Our strong recommendation is to select a subset of the market and go after it relentlessly. As a wedding vendor, not all engaged couples are going to be your target market; be specific about their age, careers, passions and concerns. The more vivid a picture you have of this couple, the easier they will be to find.

Once you know who it is you are looking to attract, find couples who fit this description and talk to them. Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank gives this advice: “Get out of the building”. Interview these couples to verify if your assumptions about them are correct and test marketing material with them to see if it would capture their attention and attract them to your business. This can be an iterative process as the more interviews you conduct, the more you can refine your ideal client and position your business to be their clear choice.

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