Redbubble: The Importance of Target Marketing
In our global, digital-first society, embracing online selling has become a must for many creators and small business owners as they look to keep pace with increased competition and changing consumer preferences. Thanks to the internet, small business owners are now leaning to ecommerce websites and social media to pitch and market their brand and product(s). While some online marketplaces sell their own products, there are others that uniquely function as a platform for other sellers such as Redbubble.
What is Redbubble?
Founded in 2006, Redbubble is a global online marketplace that provides independent artists a meaningful new way to sell their creations (Redbubble, 2021). More specifically, it is a platform for print-on-demand products based on independent artists. A shirt with an astronaut on the beach, a phone case with Baby Yoda eating a burger, and a tote bag with a Toy Story Alien riding on the back of Bullseye are all fun examples that Redbubble help make happen. Redbubble has quietly grown to be one of the country’s biggest ecommerce companies with 147.8 million website visitors in the 2017 financial year and revenue of $114.6 million (Jones, 2017).
Redbubble’s Target Market
Redbubble prides itself in creating the most personal, original and high-quality products. Nevertheless, they have segmented people who share a creative side and who want to personalize different things. This large segmentation can be broken down and better defined to determine the target market. Redbubble is focused on targeting creative people mostly in the age group of 15–35 who want to own personalized artistic t-shirts, wall art, etc., as they are more than likely to turn to the internet for these types of niche purchases (MBA Skool Team, 2020). With that being said, it is important for Redbubble to position themselves as the most creative online marketplace where global artists come together and bring about new designs to showcase their fan’s love and passion (MBA Skool Team, 2020).
Redbubble’s Target Marketing Strategies
Redbubble targets those who are creative minded and between the ages of 15 to 35. There is no other age group who are more technology driven and digital savvy than them. With that being said, Redbubble should utilize social media to market their target audience, specifically Instagram. Through Instagram, Redbubble can run a campaign where they feature a growing artist every week. This will allow them to not only connect artists to inspired fans, but also allows them to promote the artist’s work that is listed on their online marketplace.
Redbubble can also run an Instagram campaign that features fan art that fans have received from their favorite artists through the use of their online marketplace. This can be executed on Instagram every week as it is a major platform for Redbubble. It will allow people to have something to look forward to every week. It will also allow Redbubble to use user-generated content on their Instagram. This will provide the opportunity to gain insights on their target audience, while also being unique and increasing personalization on their content.
A social media campaign associated with giveaways can also help Redbubble market their target audience. Once a week, Redbubble will execute giveaways for their followers on Instagram through a feed post. Redbubble will ask of those who choose to participate to tag their friends on the post and to like, comment, and share the post to win the giveaway. At the deadline, the winner will be chosen randomly on Instagram. The goal behind this social media campaign is to boost brand awareness to get more people familiar with the brand, and to drive up engagement. Giveaways will also be a great way for Redbubble to put the spotlight on new products that can help generate more leads and boost sales.
Importance of Target Marketing
It is safe to say that having a target audience is very important as it impacts advertising, customer experience, branding, and business operations. Focusing on target marketing gives companies the opportunity to speak directly to a defined audience. Often times, brands who have a large, varied market of customers struggle with creating marketing campaigns that speak directly to their audience (Yesbeck, 2020). Through target marketing, companies can overcome this hurdle and just focus on crafting messages for one specific audience.
Target marketing also presents the opportunity for companies to know their customer base and look at their products and services in a new way. When a company has a deep understanding of their target audience, they can put themselves in their shoes and see how they can improve their offerings (Yesbeck, 2020). Overall, target marketing provides an opportunity for companies to be more specific about their marketing strategies, initiatives, and direction of their brand.
