top of page
Britta Cabanos

Fashion Design How To: Defining your Target Market & Create Your Customer Profile

Updated: Nov 16, 2023

Understanding your target market is a crucial part of any business, including the fashion industry. Whether you're a designer, retailer, or a marketer in the fashion sector, it's essential to know who your customers are, their needs, preferences, and behaviors. But how do you go about defining your target market and creating a comprehensive customer profile? In this post, we'll guide you through the process step by step with this Fashion Design How To:  Defining your Target Market & Create your Customer Profile.


Fashion Industry stylish Gal  walking with coffee
Fashion Industry stylish Gal

Define Your Target Market Before you can create a customer profile, you first need to identify who your target market is. This involves gathering information on demographics, psychographics, behavior, needs and pain points, goals and aspirations, communication preferences, purchase intent, influencers and role models, competition, and feedback and surveys. Let's delve deeper into each of these aspects.

Demographics Start by looking at your audience's basic demographic information such as age, gender, location, education level, and income. These factors can significantly affect their buying behavior and preferences.


Pink feminine Desk top With books and notes
Desk top With books and notes

Psychographics Psychographics include interests and hobbies, values and beliefs, lifestyle, and personality traits. These factors help you understand why your audience behaves the way they do and what motivates their buying decisions.



male shopper getting advice on outfit
Shopping Advice

Behavior Understanding how your audience behaves can provide valuable insights. Look at their buying behavior (are they impulsive or cautious?), brand loyalty, online behavior (social media usage, browsing habits), and their interaction with your product or service.

Needs and Pain Points Identify the problems or challenges your product or service can address. Understanding the needs and desires of your audience can help you tailor your offerings to meet their requirements.



Goal Setting Notebook
Goal Setting Notebook

Goals and Aspirations What are your audience's short-term and long-term goals? What do they aspire to achieve? Knowing this can help you position your products or services in a way that aligns with their aspirations.

Communication Preferences How does your target audience prefer to receive information? Do they prefer social media, email, or in-person interactions? Tailoring your communication methods can significantly improve your engagement rates.


Buyer Influences- stack of fashion magazines
Buyer Influences- magazines

Purchase Intent Are your customers likely to make impulse purchases, or do they conduct thorough research before buying? Understanding this can help you tailor your marketing and sales strategies.

Influencers and Role Models Identify people or figures your target audience looks up to or is influenced by. Collaborating with these influencers can help you reach a larger audience.

Feedback and Surveys Gather feedback and conduct surveys to understand your audience's preferences and needs better. This can help you improve your products, services, and marketing strategies.

Competition Analyze your competitors and determine who their target audience is. This can provide valuable insights and help you differentiate your offerings.

Test and Refine Continuously assess and refine your understanding of your target audience as your business evolves. This will ensure your marketing and product/service offerings continue to meet their needs and preferences. By carefully considering these aspects, you can create a comprehensive profile of your target audience, which will help you tailor your marketing and product/service offerings to meet their needs and preferences better.



Create Your Customer Profile Once you have defined your target market, the next step is to create your customer profile. A customer profile, also known as a buyer persona, is a detailed description of your ideal customer. This includes their demographics, psychographics, behavior, needs and pain points, goals and aspirations, communication preferences, purchase intent, influencers and role models, feedback and surveys, and competition. Creating a customer profile can help you understand your customers on a deeper level, which can in turn help you tailor your products, services, and marketing strategies to meet their needs and preferences. It can also help you identify opportunities for growth and expansion.


Marketing Checklist Once you have defined your target market and created your customer profile, you can use this information to guide your marketing efforts. Here are some things to consider:

  • Segment Your Lists

  • Send Targeted Communications

  • Communicate With Your Sales Team

  • Determine Your "Differentiator"

  • Get Some Swag

  • Create a Follow Up Funnel or Flow

By following these steps, you can gain the skills you need to succeed in top fashion jobs. Here is a broken down bullet point list for handy reference-

For a free printable checklist, grab your copy here:


So, get started today, and take your fashion career to the next level. See the bullet list below for a quick outline recap:

  1. Demographics:

    • Age

    • Gender

    • Location

    • Education level

    • Income

  2. Psychographics:

    • Interests and hobbies

    • Values and beliefs

    • Lifestyle

    • Personality traits

Behavior:

  • Buying behavior (impulsive, cautious, etc.)

  • Brand loyalty

  • Online behavior (social media usage, browsing habits)

  • Interaction with your product or service

Needs and Pain Points:

  • Identify the problems or challenges your product or service can address

  • Understand the needs and desires of your audience

Goals and Aspirations:

  • What are your audience's short-term and long-term goals?

  • What do they aspire to achieve?

Communication Preferences:

  • How does your target audience prefer to receive information (e.g., social media, email, in-person, etc.)?

Purchase Intent:

  • Are they likely to make impulse purchases or conduct thorough research before buying?

Influencers and Role Models:

  • Identify people or figures your target audience looks up to or is influenced by


Feedback and Surveys:

  • Gather feedback and conduct surveys to understand your audience's preferences and needs better

Competition:

  • Analyze your competitors and determine who their target audience is

Test and Refine:

  • Continuously assess and refine your understanding of your target audience as your business evolves

By carefully considering these aspects, you can create a comprehensive profile of your target audience, which will help you tailor your marketing and product/service offerings to meet their needs and preferences better.



Sign quote Darling You belong here
Darling, You belong here at IFD!

Thanks for reading today! Have other suggestions or questions? Reach out to let us know design@insidefashiondesign.net


Know someone who would like this article? Please share!


Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the know and see all our featured makers, along with industry insights & inspirations!




Comentarios

Obtuvo 0 de 5 estrellas.
Aún no hay calificaciones

Agrega una calificación
bottom of page