Yunzi Digital | Blog

How to identify target market in 4 steps

Identifying a target market is the single most practical lever a resource-constrained Malaysian startup can pull to focus scarce capital, shorten product iterations, and accelerate early revenue.

1️⃣Define your ideal customer

Start with a compact, testable profile: demographics, jobs-to-be-done, purchase context, and constraints. Use a one-page persona template with five fields only — Income bracket; Primary need; Decision trigger; Purchase channel; Resource constraints. This forces focus and avoids vague “millennial/urban” buckets that waste runway.

Why this matters in Malaysia: recent SME research shows Malaysian firms that segment and profile customers systematically are better able to deploy social media budgets and convert followers into paying customers. Build two to three personas, rank them by expected revenue potential, and commit to serving the top-ranked persona for the first 6–12 months.

Practical example: local founders who later scaled often started by serving an identifiable worker or micro-retailer segment before broadening. A study of Malaysian F&B SMEs highlights segmentation as the mediator between social media activity and brand equity, showing the power of narrow persona focus in digital channels.

2️⃣Analyse their needs

Move beyond demographics into functional and emotional jobs-to-be-done. Map the three highest-priority pains your persona has today, what they currently pay for solutions, and what a better experience looks like. Use simple tools: a 2x2 prioritisation (urgency vs willingness to pay) and a day-in-the-life storyboard.

Malaysia-specific insight: SMEs that used segmentation to align social content with real customer needs saw stronger brand equity and more efficient ad spend; social content that addresses specific consumer pain points outperformed generic promotions. Local SME case reviews also show entrepreneurs who translated daily pain points into product features reduced acquisition costs and increased retention.

Practical example: Ramly’s success in local food processing and quick-serve formats is often cited for its focus on an everyday Malaysian need — affordable, tasty quick meals for working families — and making product accessibility ubiquitous through small-format retail channels.

3️⃣Use surveys and social media

Surveys and social listening are low-cost, high-speed feedback engines for Malaysian startups with limited budgets. Use split testing on social ads, run short 6-question surveys with a small paid audience slice, and track comment themes and direct messages for qualitative signals.

Evidence from Malaysia: academic work on F&B SMEs demonstrates segmentation mediates the relationship between social media marketing and brand results, which means targeted surveys and platform-specific messaging materially improve conversion performance. National SME case collections highlight how early-stage firms used inexpensive digital experiments to validate demand before committing to inventory or retail partnerships.

Practical example: Grab began as a solution to an identified transport pain, validated through iterative local pilots in Malaysian cities and then expanded product lines after observing merchant and commuter behaviour. Their early focus on real commuter problems guided product prioritisation and marketing messages that resonated across Southeast Asia.

4️⃣Tailor your messaging

Translate needs into platform-native messages. On Facebook and Instagram, use problem-first hooks and show the immediate benefit within the first 3 seconds. On WhatsApp or Telegram, use short, action-led copy that facilitates ordering or booking. Always include an explicit next step: order link, WhatsApp button, or “book a trial”.

Why this works in Malaysia: firms that tailor content to both language preference and buying channel perform better when operating in diverse markets like Malaysia where consumer language, trust signals, and payment habits vary by region and income. Academic evidence supports the importance of segmentation to improve brand outcomes when content is tuned to the right audience.

Practical example: regional winners like Grab scaled by localising messaging and rapidly testing product-market fit in each city, iterating language, trust signals, and features per market feedback. Malaysian F&B SMEs that aligned content to customer segments measured better engagement and improved brand equity.

Follow us @YunziDigital for more actionable growth plays and frameworks tailored for Malaysian startups.