The target market for the paint industry includes anyone who needs to paint something. This includes homeowners, businesses, and even public organizations.
This market is huge and diverse, which means that there are many opportunities for companies in this industry to find a niche that they can serve.
But the market can vary based on factors like the type of paint, what needs to be painted, the environment that the paint will be impacted by, etc.
In this article, we will review different segments of the target market for the paint industry and discuss some marketing strategies that can be used to reach them.
Understanding the Target Market for the Paint Industry
To understand the target market for the paint industry, we need to ask ourselves who needs paint and why?
Once we answer this question (or rather both questions), we can be in a position to understand the different parts of this immense market and see what people’s motivations are to purchase paint.
Such an analysis gives us the following segments of the target market for the paint industry:
- Homeowners
- Businesses
- Contractors
- Painters
- Home Improvement Stores
Each of these segments has different reasons for painting, and each has its own specific needs. We need to take a closer look at each one in order to understand how to market paint products to them.
1. Homeowners
Homeowners are the largest target market for the paint industry. They purchase paint for many reasons, the most common being to improve how their homes look.
They may want to make a change to the color of their walls, or they may need to paint the trim and gutters. Or they want to add another coat to their doors. Or they may be redoing the home decor and adding new paint is part of the new look.
Regardless of all these needs, homeowners typically don’t purchase paint very often, maybe once every few years. This means that even though homeowners together constitute the largest market for the paint industry it is a very fragmented market.
And so, paint manufacturers need to make sure that they are top of mind when homeowners are ready to purchase. One way to do this is through advertising that is targeted at the times when homeowners are most likely to need paint, such as during the spring and summer months.
2. Businesses
Businesses purchase paint for many of the same reasons that homeowners do, but on a much larger scale. They may need to paint their offices, warehouses, or other commercial buildings.
And they may need to do it more often than homeowners, depending on how quickly the building gets dirty or how often they change their color schemes.
Businesses also have a lot more painting needs beyond the exterior of their buildings. They may need to paint floors, ceilings, industrial equipment, and more.
Also, businesses are more like indirect customers rather than direct customers of the paint industry because they are more likely than homeowners to go through intermediaries like contractors or painters to get their premises and buildings painted.
This means that the target market for the paint industry also includes businesses that specialize in providing painting services.
We’ll discuss them next.
3. Contractors
Contractors are companies that provide different services like painting, electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, construction, and more. They are hired by businesses and homeowners to do work that they either don’t have the time or expertise to do themselves.
They are an important target market for the paint industry because they purchase large quantities of paint and other materials needed to complete a job.
And since they are in the business of painting, they typically have a lot of expertise on the subject and can be very influential in persuading their customers to choose one type or brand of paint over another.
Contractors are also a very fragmented target market, with many small businesses competing for jobs. This means that paint manufacturers need to reach out to them directly and offer incentives for them to use their products.
A good way to do this is through contractor programs that offer discounts on purchases, free samples, and other perks.
4. Painters
Painters are similar to contractors in that they provide painting services to businesses and homeowners. But they are usually individual workers rather than companies. This means they are usually hired by homeowners rather than businesses that tend to prefer contractors.
And while painters may not purchase as much paint as contractors, they can still be a significant target market for the paint industry because of their expertise and influence on customers.
5. Home Improvement Stores
Home Improvement Stores are more distributors than customers of the paint industry. Nevertheless, they are an important target market because they are where many homeowners and businesses go to purchase paint and painting supplies.
And so, paint manufacturers need to make sure that their products are available at these stores and that the staff is knowledgeable about them.
They can also offer promotional materials and bonuses to store employees as an incentive for them to sell their products. They could also offer training to these employees so that they know how to sell products and how to answer questions from potential customers.
Conclusion
The target market for the paint industry includes anyone who either buys paint or distributes it to the end customer.
The largest segment market of this market includes homeowners who will typically buy paint to paint their houses. But this market segment is highly fragmented and a homeowner will only need to purchase new paint every few years.
Businesses also need paint for the same reason as homeowners but they generally tend to hire a contractor to get the job done. This means businesses are only indirect customers of the paint industry.
Contractors are a very important segment of the market for paint because they have a disproportional impact on the end customer’s decision to purchase one type or brand of paint over another.
A smaller version of a contractor is the individual painter. But a painter is no less influential because homeowners may hire a painter or a small team of painters and will rely on their expertise to buy paint.
Finally, large aggregators like DIY stores or home improvement stores are a critical market segment for the paint industry because if they refuse to carry a certain type of paint, it may never reach the end customer. So the paint industry spends considerable time and money getting such stores to carry their products.