It's that Target Market again...

By Reena Kapoor
Posted on October 2009 in Market Strategy

Lately I’ve been advising a couple of different companies who are either introducing a new product or contemplating a new market. Invariably the question comes up how should we think about which markets to enter. Simple answer: wherever you can maximize your opportunity! Well not so simple really, when you start thinking about it.

Arriving at the answer takes some:

• research: investigate, research, and think through who are your ideal users, how they (will) buy and who they are, how to reach them
• analysis: what are the criteria for evaluating each segment, vertical, market—and what constitutes are market in the first place?—and
• discipline: yes we want to go after all the big opportunities out there but we can’t possibly do it all; so we have strategically determine and go after the ones where we can maximize our win.

Needless to say this is a critical, intensive and thoughtful exercise when done right. But meanwhile I wanted to share a set of very simple (perhaps simplistic?) and over-arching set of criteria I use in conducting this analysis. Hope you find it useful. And please write and tell me what you think!