- The catch: you are probably not your customer
- Start with a minimum viable target market
- Four ways to research your target market
- The SBA's six market research questions
- How to size your target market
- Three ways to segment it
- How to find your target market in five steps
- Where I come in
- My verdict on choosing a target market
- Frequently asked questions
A target market is the specific group of people most likely to buy your products or services. Shopify's point is that you can't sell to anyone and everyone, and narrowing the audience you target can increase your total sales.
That sounds backwards until you try it. A message written for everyone lands with nobody, while a message written for one clear group feels personal to them. Shopify's toothpaste example shows it well: the formulas barely differ, so each brand's marketing is tailored to a specific target market instead.
The catch: you are probably not your customer
Shopify says many small business owners create products they wish they had. That's a fine starting point, but staying on the "I'm my own customer" path for too long is dangerous, because assumptions based on your own thoughts and behaviour can derail your research. Shopify's example: if you personally dislike Facebook, you might wrongly strike Facebook advertising from your plan, even if your buyers live there.
So treat your first guess as a hypothesis, not a fact.
Start with a minimum viable target market
Shopify calls this the bare minimum you need to know about your ideal customer before diving in. To check your choice, ask four questions:
- Does the audience have enough people in it?
- Will they benefit from your product?
- Can they afford it?
- Can you reach them?
If any answer is no, the market's either too narrow or the wrong one.
Four ways to research your target market
- Host focus groups. Shopify suggests recruiting with an incentive such as a free product or a $25 gift card (its example, as of October 2026), keeping the criteria broad and asking open-ended questions, such as what qualities people look for in brands and what would need to happen in their life for them to buy.
- Survey existing customers. Ask about education, how they spend their free time, why they bought and which channels they used. Shopify's tip is to add a short survey to purchase-confirmation emails, mixing demographic and psychographic questions, then look for the traits your paying customers share.
- Keep tabs on competitors. Look at their social media, the influencers they work with, and their reviews and case studies. In a crowded market, knowing who your competitors target helps you narrow your own focus.
- Use existing research. Shopify points to sources such as McKinsey & Company and Pew Research Center.
The US Small Business Administration describes the same split. You can use existing sources, which save time but may not be as specific to your audience, or go direct to consumers yourself. If you'd like software to help, I've rounded up the best market research tools.
The SBA's six market research questions
The SBA says market research lets you reduce risk even while your business is still an idea. Its checklist is the most useful single list I know for testing a target market:
| Question | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Demand | Is there a desire for your product or service? |
| Market size | How many people would be interested? |
| Economic indicators | What's the income range and employment rate? |
| Location | Where do customers live and where can you reach them? |
| Market saturation | How many similar options already exist? |
| Pricing | What do customers pay for the alternatives? |
The SBA also suggests using demographic information such as age, wealth, family and interests to understand the opportunities and limits you'll face in winning customers.
How to size your target market
Shopify recommends desk research with free resources. In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics covers jobs, income levels and how people spend their free time, and Statista compiles how many people buy, watch, stream or read something. Facebook's audience tool estimates sizes by interests, gender and location, but it only counts its own users. Those first two are US sources, so if you sell elsewhere, start with your national statistics office.
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Three ways to segment it
| Segmentation | Based on | Example traits |
|---|---|---|
| Demographic | Who they are | Generation, income level, marital status, education level |
| Geographic | Where they are | Language spoken, country, city or continent |
| Psychographic | How they think | Shared psychological traits, used to tailor messaging |
Geography is more than a map. Shopify's localisation advice is to set up translations when a large segment speaks another language fluently, and it cites research showing 66% of consumers expect the companies they buy from to understand their needs. Psychographics then shape how you talk to each group once you know who they are. The natural next step is turning segments into buyer personas that drive conversions.
How to find your target market in five steps
- Write down who you think buys, then challenge it. Don't assume customers are like you.
- Survey your existing customers and look for common denominators.
- Check which audiences your competitors are going after.
- Size the group with public data.
- Segment it and test your messaging on each segment.
Where I come in
Audience work sits underneath everything I do with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. I help them pick a narrower, better-defined target market, check it against real customer data and then build the positioning and messaging for it. You can see how I work on my work with me page.
My verdict on choosing a target market
Pick a narrower group than feels comfortable, then prove it with real customers. Use the SBA's six questions as your checklist and Shopify's research methods as the how. And if your plan only makes sense because you'd buy it yourself, go and talk to ten people who aren't you before you spend a penny on promotion.
Choosing a market also means asking how hard it is to enter, which barriers to entry explains.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of a target market?
Shopify's toothpaste example shows it: the formulas barely differ, so each brand tailors its marketing to a specific group of buyers rather than everyone who brushes their teeth.
What are the 3 types of market segmentation?
Demographic, based on who people are; geographic, based on where they are; and psychographic, based on shared psychological traits.
How do I find my target market?
Survey existing customers, run focus groups, study competitors' audiences and use public research, then size the group and check it against the SBA's six questions.
What is a minimum viable target market?
Shopify's term for the bare minimum you need to know before you start: the group is big enough, will benefit, can afford it and you can reach them.
