What Is the Target Market For Drug Testing Providers?

If you’re looking to get into the drug testing industry, you may have more potential clients than you realize. There are some industries that are obvious targets for marketing a drug testing company but take a deeper look at the trends in how employers are investigating the usage habits of their employees and applicants, and you may find some surprises.

The Obvious Industries

The obvious target markets for drug testing companies looking for new clients will be those involving heavy equipment, driving, and other dangerous work.

Some other industries to consider are:

• Healthcare providers
• Financial services providers
• Fortune 500 companies

All of these industries routinely engage in drug testing, whether because this is a requirement of their insurance and regulations or because they want to filter out employees who may prove unreliable or downright dangerous in certain roles. Consider that there are other markets out there that you may want to target.

Unexpected Opportunities

Data from the US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration gathered in the mid-1990s revealed some surprising facts about illicit substance abuse. Any drug testing company should consider it potentially worthwhile marketing information.

For example, in the aforementioned data, substance abuse rates were as high as 16.3% in eating and drinking places. Those rates were as high as 14.4% in furniture and appliance stores.

Even in venues where drug testing may not be the norm, illicit drug use rates can be quite high. 9.3% of workers were found to be abusing illicit substances in grocery stores. Such employees may have access to cash, heavy equipment, and so forth, and there is a good reason for employers in these retail industries to consider adding drug screening to their application process.

Remember to look at industries that may not immediately come to mind when considering drug testing. There may be the potential to gain many new clients among those industries and, at the same time, help them deal with a real threat to their profitability.

It’s also important to remember that small businesses may need affordable drug testing options and even mobile drug testing. While you should look for large industrial clients, remember that the smaller businesses in your area may be just as promising as new customers.