I've never been a fan of using the word 'Target' to describe a group of people you want to connect with, but, in essence, the process of figuring out who you are designing your product or service for is about 'targeting'. Targeting in the sense that you have to find a specific goal or purpose to build towards.

Time and time again, I've sat down with clients to discuss who they are building for. 9 times out of 10 the answer is:

Everyone [or some form of 'Everyone', rattling off 5 markets that include everyone]

Wow, I think to myself, you must have one helluva product in mind. Because I've never encountered a product or service (except for food, sleep and shelter, I guess, but even those aren't homogenous) that everyone will use.

Of all of the 'traditional' marketing practices I choose to ignore, targeting is not one of them...but I do approach it in a bit of a different fashion: instead of the 'Males, aged 18-34, from urban areas, with some college education' etc. I like to think in terms of 'behaviour' or specific 'characteristics'. Like, Technorati serves Bloggers first and Blog Readers second and targets their development goals to suit those people. [Now note that when they began that was a very narrow market...not so much now...so they have had to develop out specific products to suit micro-markets within the larger market]

Even Wal-Mart, a department store that ostensibly carries everything has a specific audience has a specific audience:

Who do we serve?
Great leaders focus their followers on serving one specific core group. By serving this core group, the organization can better serve other groups as well. For example, an executive from Wal-Mart recently told an audience that Wal-Mart serves those who live from paycheck to paycheck; others are invited to shop at Wal-Mart and may be satisfied in doing so, but Wal-Mart is focused on serving those who are struggling to get by. [from Marcus Buckingham's "The One Thing You Need to Know"]

The truth of the matter is that if you don't reduce your scope, you will end up designing for nobody at all. Your product or service will look confused and confusing and you'll suffer from feature bloat at the very least. Especially in today's 'celebrate the individual' world, where there is truly 'something for everyone'* and the web has given us a plethora of free choices for so many things, it is more important than ever to serve your specific audience better than ever.

To give the most obvious current marketing darling, MySpace didn't set out to serve everyone. They grew originally because they did something very different than Friendster: they created great tools for independent bands. Sure, they added other features as the service grew, but look now at how they are 'monetizing' it...they are becoming the Long Tail of music sales. They are going to make a bloody killing AND they haven't deviated from the core audience they serve. Nice.

I like to do my dillegence when it comes to recognizing that narrow audience. I have never been a fan of conjecture and gut instinct. Gut instinct is good if it comes from the right gut, but since we are all a bit biased, we are most likely to fail on this one. Recently, I had someone tell me that they were expanding their 'target market' because they visited a couple of VC's who told them their service could be for a wider audience. Of COURSE they said that. VC's like 'everyone' markets. It means more $ [if you win]. Ironically, it most often means no $ - playing the 'everyone' card is a zero sum game.

So, how do you determine what the right audience is?

1. Look at your current customers
   
   The best way to find your core audience is to look at who is using your product right now. Take a look how they are using it, too. It's surprising how little companies know about their customers. It seems that they are always looking to acquire rather than to keep their current ones...or make them so happy they tell everyone they know (erm...become customer evangelists?).
   
   
2. Remember why you created your product/service in the first place
   
   Was it for your best friend and his issue with whatever that thing was? Was it for you and fulfilling your desire to do that stuff you've always wanted to? Was it for your spouse and his/her frustrations with blah? Don't let VC's or anyone else throw you off of that goal. Do that well first, then see where your customers want you to take them.
   
   If you haven't launched yet, this is your best bet [also see the 'Blue Ocean' strategy below - find out who your competitors are NOT serving]. Don't conjecture. Don't say 'everyone'.
   
   
3. Look at who is talking about you and what they are saying
   
   Just recently, I did some deep research on who is using vs. talking about a client. The groups, it turned out, are very different. What does that mean? Well, it was listening to what they were saying and how they were saying it that was crucial to understanding why they publicize the product, but don't use it. In this case, many of the bloggers talking about the product were indicating that this site would be great for people they knew...people who, quite often, matched the characteristics of who was already using the site.
   
   Now, this doesn't mean that I would advise ignoring this crew. Not at all. They make great 'sneezers'. But what they appear to be impressed with is how well the product fit the needs of their friends and family members. When a new feature comes out that will enhance that experience, you can definitely let those 'sneezers' know about it.
   
   
4. If you have competitors (which you usually do), see who they are designing for
   
   A piece of advice here...don't go after the same audience. MySpace served indy bands instead of the college crowd (Facebook) or the social butterflies (Friendster). In the end, both the college crowd and the social butterflies migrated over. Now everyone is creating tools for bands. Why not shift it? Find out who else is using MySpace, but not quite getting the mileage or the features they want out of it? A company called Maya's Mom appears to be creating a social network for moms...a group that may feel underserved on MySpace.
   
   
5. Research, research, research...but focus on the qualitative
   
   Because I was trained in research first, I'm a big fan of it. But I'm not a big fan of surveys and other quantitative research. Sure, numbers tell you a piece of the story, but they are often inaccurate and skewed. Unless you have years of training on how to write a survey to not bias the answers, you may do more damage than good.
   
   Where to research? As I said before, look at who is your customer and how are they using your product? Scour customer service logs and feedback emails. I'm a huge advocate of adding a gazillion ways for your customers to contact you: email, chat, forums, wikis, blogs, feedback links on every page and within every step (one company I heard actually put a feedback link on every page of pdfs they created)... READ THESE. Don't just collect them. These are very valuable. Add really great tracking software to your site - I really like what Crazy Egg is doing (and Hiten tells us this is just the beginning). Read blogs...but not only full reviews, but between the lines of who is blogging, how and why. Are they using it or just talking about it? Do they lump your site into a list of 'cool links' to try out or do they actually discuss how they feel about what you are doing? Email people who are talking about you and open up a wider discussion.
   
   Then the competitors, as I mentioned above, and the pseudo competitors (offline and similar audiences). Look at untapped markets (who isn't being served). Go deep into each region. Note even the most insignificant details. Spend time being your own customer. Use your own product. I know...sounds really simple, but you'd be surprised. Break it. Try using it for what it shouldn't be used for.
   

We all want to be liked by everyone, but it is nearly impossible to achieve this. Generic has rarely been rewarded (which is different than watering something down as the audience grows...that's a whole other issue).

And, back to Buckingham, who has great advice for those of you who want to lead: Clarity is key...and your points of clarity are:

1. Who do we serve? (focus on one core audience)
2. What is our core strength? (why will we win)
3. What is our core score? (one metric to measure how well we are doing)
4. What actions can we take today to get there?

Now I'm off to gently guide people back on track. ;)


*except, of course, food for the hungry, but I'm talking marketing here...