Let's talk about Target Market!

[SerenityInChains]

So, the other day I was taken to a late birthday dinner by one of my co-workers (from my "day job") and she ended up there first. I got a text as I walked in that she was basically sitting with some business gentlemen that knew the founder of the company we both work for.

After some sushi, and sake, the talk turned to business. Come to find out, we were basically sitting with millionaires having dinner. It was an eye opening experience.

During the conversation one of the three gentlemen started talking about entrepreneurship, to which my coworker states "Michelle is an entrepreneur. She owns her own growing business designing jewelry." Which sparked the requirement that I pull out my iPad and show everyone my store.

One of the three gentlemen began quizzing me about my designs, one showed more interest in my boyfriend E cig (bought from another friend's business), and the third (whom was wearing a $30,000 watch) began picking apart my store, how my jewelry is displayed, my designs, and even my components (mind you he had no expertise in the jewelry arena, other than buying expensive "mass produced" pieces).

All three gentlemen came from similar business backgrounds, had similar net worths, and were eating at my table. Only one of them was wearing flashy, expensive jewelry, and he was NOT my target market.

My friend, whom is a brilliant business woman (but not for artisan jewelry) stubbornly tried to sell my wares to the flashy watch guy for 45 minutes, to no avail. It was amusing to watch. I spent 5 minutes talking to him before I stopped trying to 'sell' to him. It took me 5 minutes to realize the man had no appreciation for artisan products, and that my prices were way to low for him to respect. He was all abut high price tags, not about quality. He wanted FLASHY, and well designed.

However, I spent 5 minutes talking to the gentlemen that took interest in how I design things, and he tried to buy the $80 bracelet I was wearing, off my wrist (on of my niobium micro Maille bracelets).

Moral of the story? It is more profitable to talk to your target market for 5 minutes than to spend 45 minutes trying to sell to someone that is not part of your target market.

Take the time to understand who your customer really is, or should be!

[EntwineKnitwear]

Great story! And so true what you say about talking to the target market instead of trying to reach everyone !

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Love that story, thanks for sharing. It's a difficult thing to do, we all want to please everybody. I know there are some people who admire my work (my other shop is art glass, my day job) and it is difficult for me to tell myself to orient my marketing towards them rather than try to attract people who are not interested. I'll try and remember your story when I stray from the path !

[Former_Member]

Thanks for sharing this story!

I went to a workshop about branding, and as one of her examples, the speaker showed one of her clients logos. Her client was a birth doula (like a birth coach) and had red poppies as her logo. It and her wording was in an Art Deco style.

To me it looked fresh and appealing.

The speaker contrasted it to about 2 dozen other logos for things related to women's health, most were purple or pink swirly women holding something. To me this looked like cheesy '90's design.

A man commented that the red poppy based logo looked old fashioned to him, like something his grandma would've liked. To this 60 year old man, this meant stuffy, antique, old, matronly and simply unattractive. He liked the purple swirly women logos!

I said in response, "well, you as an older man are NOT her target market, but I am, and I like it!".

So yes, it is VERY important to know your target market.

[thelonebeader]

I hope you sold your bracelet;)

[SerenityInChains]

Dianna,
I didn't actually. The one I had on was a first effort, and sentimental. However, I will be designing one for his wife shortly!

[SpangGangDesigns]

great advice - well put! (It is more profitable to talk to your target market for 5 minutes than to spend 45 minutes trying to sell to someone that is not part of your target market.)

[Former_Member]

Love this story!!! This was a lesson that I learned not too long ago when it came to choosing events to vendor. I used to get tables at local fashion shows to only get a handful (or less of sales). I did one craft show that was poorly advertised so no one was there but I did get a sale from another vendor. Then I got a table at a natural hair event. I had NEVER been so busy (that was a DUH moment for me since I sell hair accessories)! Next year I am going to try to do some bridal shows and events as I target brides and their wedding parties.

[SerenityInChains]

Porsha,
I'm so glad you learned that lesson too! It took me an entire show season to figure out where I should and shouldn't vend. I don't do "craft shows" anymore, because my target market simply doesn't shop them around here (our craft shows tend to be, pardon the phrase, crap shows in this area with lots of hot glued crafts and resellers). But art shows are great for us, and festivals seem to be pretty good too. They are more expensive for the booth fee, but totally worth it!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

A lot of Etsy sellers seem to think that their target market consists of everyone that they can somehow present a link to their shop to. "I post my new listings on my Facebook and Twitter and I leave my business cards in library books and I STILL have no sales!...."
That makes for a lot of disappointment.
I call it promoting into outer space.

From the minute you open your shop (or even before that) you need to spend time thinking about the people most likely, willing and able to buy your products.
Then you need to find out where they hang out (online and offline).
And then you need to find ways to promote directly to them, but without spamming them.
The best way is to simply hang out with them, spend time with them (with them having excess to your shop url). Don't make it all about promoting. Let your target market get to know you and get interested in what it is you do and make. Let them get excited about your talent and let THEM decide they want to see your shop.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

excess = access

[hipposdream]

Nice to following this thread and so true..... :-)

[PaperPlanePrints]

Great post!

[Former_Member]

Michelle,

The vendor tables at the events that my target market shops at are more expensive too, ut like you said, it is worth it. The networking was great because everyone was there for a specific reason and not just lolly-gagging and browsing. Plus, I got more sales. More people know my brand now because of the one hair show that I did versus the three fashion shows and one poorly advertised craft shows.

I might give craft shows another try or two. The one I participated in was not organized by someone that really promoted it. She got her money from all of the vendors so it wasn't a big deal to her if she actually sold anything or not. I know not to do anything with her again. I might have decent results at a better marketed one.

[Former_Member]

I have found it to be much easier to make something specifically for a niche market, than to make something and then try to find the market.

and when selling that on etsy, calling it everything it can be called will help you sell it to every version of that niche, as this is a word based system.

[SerenityInChains]

Alex, that is very true! I'm a niche seller too, and I agree that while selling niche items is great (with general built in target market) that trying to entice the entire niche is a good idea.

[MariasWorkshop]

Thanks for posting this. It is extremely helpful to me. I am still trying to find my target market. This subject confuses me. I feel like I am batting in the dark. How do you find your target market?

I guess I need to focus more. After I find my target market, I need to learn how to reach it. In the meantime, I am reading books on Facebook and Pinterest and I am trying to learn everything I can regarding marketing.

[SerenityInChains]

Maria,
There are a lot of things you can do to figure out your target market. Who can you see needing/purchasing your products? If you struggle figuring it out on your own I have a second shop that I opened to help other small business succeed. You can send me a message and I'll give you the info. One of the things I will have is a custom Target Market report.

[Former_Member]

Michelle thanks you for your post, it was very interesting to read. I still have some problems identify my market, I find the task quite difficult :)

[LeedsRadio]

The guy with the $30K wristwatch is the man I would want to talk to. I want to hear ever single thing he thinks I am doing wrong. I may not act or change all of them but I want to hear it even if the person know zero about what I sell.
My target market is people with disposable income. And I am always happy to educate someone about what I sell.

Well meaning people without money, not matter how knowledgeable do not support a business.

[SerenityInChains]

Richard,
The expensive watch guy had no interest in my products, or my craft. No matter what i changed to his tastes, he never would have purchased from me. He simple wasn't my customer. He buys flashy, overly priced jewelry to make a statement about his worth. While my jewelry can be flashy, and I aspire to that elite price point, it would never find a place in his life. He simply wouldn't buy it.

I did listen to his critiques (he hates the female bust I photograph on and said i should photograph on models, which i don't disagree but it's a budget issue), but most of them were geared to "I hate your designs". he simply wasn't impressed by my style, and that's ok. It just means that unless I am willing to tailor my artistic endeavors to his particular tastes, he would never buy from me to matter what I did to improve the esthetic of my store. Even a custom order would have been out of the question.

Since my business has an identity and a brand that follow suit with my particular styles, beliefs, ethics, and tastes there is nothing i could have done to capture him as my audience without loosing what makes Serenity in Chains what it is.

So instead of chasing after a customer that I can never have without loosing myself, it is a more sound decision to cater to the customer that IS interested in your brand. That's what Target Market is!

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

This is great advice.

I unfortunately was one of those Etsy sellers who got caught in the trap of "let me throw my product at everyone, hope something sells" and to "join every promotional team out there and hope someone likes it!"

I have since learned my lesson and unjoined all those promo teams. Now I am working on finding craft fairs that are in my target market (so hard!). Definitely need to start working on my marketing towards the group I want to sell too.

[PorcelainJazz]

Thanks for the lesson Michelle! Usually what happens to me is that I find a single item that resonates with the people that I seem to be visible to and it sells well. But when i try and add more items which appear to me to run along the same thematic lines they will not sell well. Also oddly enough I seem to sell well to other artists and to women more than to men. Even my items that I think are targeted to men will be bought by women FOR men. LOL I'm still trying to figure out how to target this nebulous market.

[LeedsRadio]

Michelle,

"The expensive watch guy had no interest in my products, or my craft. No matter what i changed to his tastes, he never would have purchased from me"

How did you know this? I am not saying you didn't. Just wondering how you knew. I've been in business for about 20 years and wouldn't know. In fact once a man, who I thought was a pain in the neck, tire-kicker, who would never buy anything stopped by on a Saturday and asked me to open my shop (the brick & mortar) on Sunday. I'm almost never there on Sunday. He hounded me and hounded me. I finally said "fine" just to get him to shut up. Sunday comes and I'm thinking that I'd better get this guy to spend 50 bucks to pay me for the trouble of commuting.

I get there. He shows up but he doesn't spend $50. He spends $5000

Showed me how wrong I could be.

[SerenityInChains]

Richard,
A combination of things (bare with me here).
1. 15 years of selling things to people. I've had an extensive career in sales and customer service. Which has given me insight into the next points.
2. Body Language. He glanced flippantly at my images and immediately lost interest. It was a look in his eyes that clearly stated that my art was not to his taste. He also leaned away, looked away briefly, and after making a slew of rather negative comments (I have thick skin so i didn't mind), turned the conversation to money and logistics of manufacturing in a factory setting. He also flashed his watch at this point which is how I know he had a ridiculously expensive watch.
3. His Language. "There is nothing here that 'wows' me. I don't see anything unique about that." were two statements that instantly said my style of design was not his style of purchase. Followed by "what the hell is that? A woman without arms? That's fucking creepy. I would never buy anything displayed on that. you need to photograph on models if you are going to sell anything. That's just fucking creepy. I don't know how you would think that is ok.... (there was about 3 more minutes along this line)"
4. Years of corporate targeted marketing - he was a middle years, middle eastern male of affluence with greater than expensive tastes and more than 200K annual income. He doesn't fall within what the marketing data (drawn from facebook, advertising venues, and sales data here) suggests is my customer, even on the extreme end.
5. Intuition. I know it's a bit more abstract, but years of customer service and sales experience have almost given me a 6th sense for when someone can be coaxed into a sale (even if they are resistant and apparently have no interest), and when it is a colossal waste of time to engage them more than a few minutes.