Know Your Target Market

Let me introduce you to Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic. 

These boys are behind the incredibly successful Australian business, HiSmile.

If you haven’t heard of them yet it’s because their business has only been in the market for just over 18 months - That short running however has seen them turn over 10 million big ones.

It all started when the boys discovered a massive gap in the Oral Hygiene and Teeth Whitening market. They found that existing brands and companies in the field represented something that wasn’t for the customer, with their products and services overpriced and not easily accessible. From here, they developed a unique product that would change the teeth whitening experience dramatically.

Now, it’s not so much their product I want to talk about here (you’ll just have to try that yourself!), it’s how knowing their target market has made their business so successful.

The duo did extensive research into their demographic and found their product spoke mostly to 15-24 year old females. Understanding the popularity of social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat within this age group, it was a no-brainer to use this platform for advertising.

With social media being such a strong tool for businesses now, they set out to invest 100% of their marketing budget into influencer-led social media campaigns on Instagram. Reaching out to the social media “It” girls that young females look up to, they sent a vast batch of their kits to the beauty bloggers and social media personalities and got THEM to do the advertising for them.

When current A-Lister, Kylie Jenner, recently posted a photo of herself with a HiSmile box on her Instagram, it reached her 76.6 million devout followers and gained a total of 1.6 million ❤︎ so far. 

“It's really just putting your product or your brand where the attention of your target market is," Mirkovic says in a recent interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. He also added "It's important for us and our marketing team to understand who the 15 to 24 year old female is looking up to and looking at for inspiration, who are they looking at for their look… So we're not trying to sell as such – we're more trying to build a lifestyle”.

Just a side note: This is a really clever tactic. Marketing your business as a “lifestyle” rather than a product is very appealing.

Heading on over to the HiSmile website, the brand boasts fun, youthful and girly colours of pale pink and aqua, with a clean, clear layout. You’ll also find their blogs aren’t necessarily about their products; Celebrities, makeup and fashion are hot topics in this section - All things their demographic are very into. Their language is straightforward and fun and the business exudes approachability.

So as the Gold Coast entrepreneurs have demonstrated, it really pays to know your target market.