High Risk Merchant Tips on Targeting Your Market

A quick lecture on target marketing. To a high risk merchant account applicant, your target market dictates the possibility of whether your merchant account application will be approved or not. Why? Because as a general rule, the more international your client base is, the higher the risk involved in your business. I'll go straight to the point. If you're an exporter or a shipper, watch out over your application. More than likely, if you have nothing solid to back it up like a good credit rating or no fraud and minimal chargeback history, your application will have a great chance of being declined.

But so much for the gloomy outlook. Targeting the market is a skill, since many merchants commit mistakes in this area. Foremost of all, targeting your market is plain and simple common sense. If you don't know "who exactly" are coming over to buy your products and services, then where will the profit come from?

TARGETING YOUR MARKET IS A TRICK

"Target marketing contrasts with mass marketing, which offers a single product to the entire market." I would say it is tricky because as far as marketing is concerned, many merchants would like to mass market and be everything and produce everything that customers want to have. In this case you would have to decide whether to attack a particular segment of the market (niche market) or the masses (mass market). And it's not always an easy job.

So what do you need to consider to make sure you're targeting a good market, whether locally or internationally? As a high risk merchant for online casinos, for example, you need to do a lot of research on the saleability of your products according to:

• number of casino gamers

• possible increase/decrease in the number of gamers

• number of competing casino merchants

• continuing interest of casino gamers

• how far you need to go to get a good percentage of the market share

• profit percentage and sales potential

RACE, RELIGION, CREED...

Of course let's not forget the criteria for targeting your market. Geographics is a big factor among high risk merchants. You may only want to target U.S. poker enthusiasts...

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High Risk Merchant Tips on Targeting Your Market