Every business has at one point had to look for clients to function. Rare are those companies who never need to advertise; the type of companies who’s phone rings non-stop have likely already spent years spreading the word, and even then benefit from continued efforts. The success for these companies exists in who sees their ads, and whether these ads motivate the reader into performing an action such as picking up the phone.

Online advertising works in very much the same way. People with similar interests tend to visit the same locations, and advertising returns can greatly increase by making sure to target the group/groups who are most likely to purchase your product or service. A perfect example is the huge, but often underestimated group, the "Soccer Mom". The Soccer Mom market is huge in the United States and only continues to grow. With their limited time, they are a group of the market who spends the most time researching products and services online before making a purchase or a timely trip to the store. If you are targeting Soccer Moms or a similar group, half of your job is already done. At least you know who your market is. The next step is to figure out where they hang out (websites they visit) and to make a presence there. It often takes an email or a phone call, but generally, website owners are more than happy to make a sale. Larger companies will likely spend thousands on market research at this point to find the sites in which to advertise, but smaller companies must often be creative.

Thanks to modern search engines, we can perform a lot of market research from the comfort of our own home. We can find out what certain markets are looking for, the specific terms they use, and thus, we can find the high ranking sites they likely visit. Many high ranking sites will provide an opportunity for advertisers to rent digital real estate for a monthly or per click rate. Google’s Adwords also allows us to take it one step further and to penetrate the market with relevant advertisements when internet users are typing search terms related to your field. These ads are based on a cost per click pricing table, and more popular key terms will likely cost more to advertise for. The price is often worth it, specially for niche markets with very specific search terms, and it should be noted that Google’s Adwords has allowed smaller companies to gain a foothold, and has allowed them to compete with larger companies with huge budgets.

However much time and money you spend on your online advertising, remember that the most important aspect is to target your market. Your main objective should not be to get the most amount of visitors, or the most hits, but to increase your returns on your investment. You can get 1 million visitors, but if only 1 person buys a product, your time and money is wasted. You will have had a 0.000001% success rate. If you only had 1 visitor to your website, but that visitor bought something, you have a 100% success rate and you wont have to spend additional time filtering through the bad leads to find the good one. See the difference?

A few Questions to consider when targeting your market:

1. Who is not my market audience (eliminating those who you are not targeting helps by pointing you in the opposite direction)

2. Who are they? Political affiliations? Social behaviors?

3. What’s their income levels?

4. What’s their age range?

5. What’s their ethnicity, and how do these cultural differences effect their purchases?

6. What are they looking for? How will they find it?

7. What would make them hesitate from buying your product or service?

There are many more specific questions that can be asked to find out who to target, but these few should get your started, and maybe motivated into asking some creative questions.