What Is Whole Addressable Market?
Whole addressable market (TAM) is the annual income your enterprise would earn in case you captured 100% of your market. TAM represents all attainable income if each potential buyer buys your services or products.
You possibly can calculate your TAM with this formulation:
TAM = variety of potential clients in your market x common income per buyer
Later on this article, you can see alternative ways to estimate every part.
The Distinction Between TAM, SAM, and SOM
- TAM: The full market demand in case you obtain 100% market share
- Service Out there Market (SAM): The demand in your product inside the market you possibly can serve based mostly on constraints like geography, product limits, and laws
- Service Obtainable Market (SOM): The portion of the SAM you possibly can realistically seize, factoring in competitors, advertising and marketing attain, and finances

Instance: A mission administration software program firm focuses on small and medium-sized companies (SMBs).
- TAM consists of all SMBs worldwide.
- SAM consists of SMBs the corporate can serve (e.g., U.S.-based).
- SOM consists of the fraction the corporate can realistically purchase (e.g., 15% of U.S.-based SMBs).
Why Is It Necessary to Perceive TAM?
Whole addressable market is a crucial measure to grasp as a result of:
- TAM validates your concept. If you’re launching a brand new enterprise, TAM signifies whether or not the market is giant sufficient to assist your enterprise. A big TAM implies actual demand.
- TAM conveys market potential. Traders and stakeholders wish to see attainable progress. Understanding TAM helps you show potential returns and safe funding or buy-in.
- TAM informs useful resource wants. Figuring out the market dimension and income potential guides choices on product growth, advertising and marketing budgets, and gross sales methods.
The way to Calculate Whole Addressable Market: 3 Strategies
Listed here are the three important approaches to calculating complete addressable market:
1. High-Down Strategy
The highest-down method begins with a broad market dimension (from trade reviews or different information). You then slim it right down to your precise market, multiply your precise market by your common income per buyer, and get TAM.

Right here’s the best way to calculate TAM utilizing the top-down method:
- Discover the whole variety of potential clients.
- Use exterior sources to slim that quantity to your particular market.
- Calculate your common income per buyer (or estimate it).
- Multiply the narrowed buyer rely by your common income per buyer.
Instance:
- Whole companies worldwide: 400 million
- Slender to small- and medium-sized companies: 350 million
- Common annual spending per buyer: $1,000
- TAM: 350 million × $1,000 = $350 billion
Benefits:
- Fast to calculate
- Useful for early-stage startups that lack inner information
Disadvantages:
- Depends on exterior information, which can be outdated or incomplete
- Can inflate TAM in case you don’t refine your goal market sufficient
Use Semrush’s Market Explorer tool to analysis market dimension and get inhabitants estimates that make it easier to calculate TAM.

2. Backside-Up Strategy
The underside-up method makes use of inner information (e.g., present income and clients). It then scales the interior information to estimate the whole market worth.

Right here’s the best way to calculate TAM utilizing the bottom-up method:
- Rely your present clients and complete annual income.
- Discover your common income per buyer (annual income ÷ variety of clients).
- Estimate what number of potential clients exist in your market.
- Multiply the variety of potential clients by your common income per buyer.
Instance:
- Present variety of legislation agency clients: 50
- Annual income from these 50 companies: $125,000
- Common income per buyer: $2,500 ($125,000 ÷ 50)
- Estimated complete legislation companies in your market: 100,000
- TAM: 100,000 × $2,500 = $250 million
Benefits:
- Makes use of actual gross sales information, making estimates extra correct
- Usually extra convincing for traders
Disadvantages:
- Requires current information, which startups might lack
- Might overlook expansions or adjustments in your enterprise mannequin
3. Worth-Concept Strategy
The worth-theory technique estimates TAM by figuring out the worth you present and the quantity clients can pay for that worth. You then multiply what clients can pay by the variety of potential clients.
Right here’s the best way to calculate TAM utilizing the value-theory method:
- Establish the issue your services or products solves.
- Quantify the worth of fixing that drawback for one buyer.
- Estimate how a lot clients can pay in your answer.
- Discover the whole variety of potential clients with this drawback.
- Multiply your proposed value by the whole variety of potential clients.
Instance:
- An AI-driven stock administration system saves a median retail retailer $50,000 yearly.
- Retailers are prepared to pay $4,800 per yr for that answer.
- You estimate 100,000 shops have this drawback.
- TAM = 100,000 × $4,800 = $480 million
Benefits:
- Good for progressive merchandise with out historic information
- Highlights how pricing aligns with delivered worth
- Helps form a pricing technique
Disadvantages:
- Requires assumptions about worth and willingness to pay
- Might not think about competitors, adoption charges, or value sensitivity
Get the Insights You Must Achieve Your Market
TAM is a crucial metric for evaluating market potential. You possibly can calculate TAM simply with Semrush’s Market Explorer device:
- Open the device, select “Analyze Class,” and choose your goal trade or area of interest.
- Click on “Analysis a market,” or choose “Create Checklist” and enter competitor domains.

- The device estimates your market dimension. Multiply the market dimension by your common income per buyer to seek out your TAM.
- Acquire additional insights, equivalent to key market gamers and viewers information.

Strive the Market Explorer device as we speak to grasp your market and place your enterprise for fulfillment.