Your target market is who is going to buy your product or service. For example, for a gas station, it is the traffic passing on the street, and may only be the traffic on your side of the street. People coming home from work are more likely to stop than people going to work. You should know how to reach your target market and differentiate your product or service from others. Ask your trade association, chamber of commerce or library.
Information is available on the Web.
See our handout Useful Web Sites. Marketing is your plan applying these 4 P's to your product or service. A marketing plan is a separate document from a business plan that plans out marketing strategies and tools, and places more definition, focus and tracking capabilities in relation to the target market and associated activities. It is helpful because it assists with structuring a timetable for implementation of marketing activities with built in tracking and possible adjustments to the timing or efforts. Most small businesses or startups really do not have a structured marketing or advertising budget.