When considering your target audience, use an approach that has a different perspective. If you’re planning a trip, you won’t get in your car and start driving without knowing the directions. The same idea applies when identifying your target audience.
Target audience refers to people who want to buy what you’re selling. You need to know where they are, who they work for, their gender, seniority, and geographical region. Defining your audience is essential and makes your strategy more efficient.
Let’s get started on the framework for evaluating your target audience.
A buyer persona should represent your ideal customer. Personas allow a business to visualize its target customers, personalizing its marketing strategy. A company can gain insight into attracting and relating to its customer segments by creating a persona. Creating 6-10 personas assists in marketing efforts and helps save time and money.
- Demographics – What does your demographic look like? Think of the details that will help you market your company.
- Age: What age group would most utilize what you’re selling? What age group would purchase your product or use your service?
- Gender: What gender is interested in your product or service? Male or Female?
- Education: Does your audience have a bachelor’s degree?
- Income: Consider the price point of your product or service and determine who will purchase it. If your product costs a lot, you’ll want to target a higher household income.
- Career – What kind of career does your ideal customer have?
- Technology – Consider the platform your audience will likely use. Understanding this will help when creating digital ads.
- Psychographics – Demographics are essential but don’t forget to consider psychographics. Psychographics can not only help you determine who to target but also assist in gaining better insights. Defining the psychographics of an audience will help you understand how your consumers think.
Consider these when getting into the mind of your audience.
- Personality – What type of personality traits do you want to market to? For example, are you looking for more outgoing or reserved people?
- Values – It’s essential to find an audience who shares similar values.
- Opinions – Seek those who share similar opinions as your company and who advocate for the same things. This will help create a good target audience. Those who differ in opinions can provide value as well.
- Interests – Another way to find your audience is to market to people with specific interests or hobbies related to your service.
- Geographic Location – To determine the best audience for your product or service, look at your location. For example, people in small towns will naturally behave differently than people from large cities. The differences will vary from city to city. Consider the cost of what you’re offering to people of different income levels.
- Behavior – Understanding consumer behavior will help you know your target audience.
- Purchasing History – The key performance indicator will help determine whether it already has the needed data points. For example, it will give you better insight into when users are making purchases.
- Website Habits – Tracking your website behavior and social channels helps determine where your consumer traffic is coming from.
- Website Frequency – How often do your consumers visit your website? Evaluating your new and returning customers will help strengthen your overall marketing strategy.
Lastly, having a marketing strategy for identifying a buyer persona will help you understand the underlying demographics and consumer behavior, hone in on the details needed to customize your approach, and maximize your long-term goals.
Defining your target audience is not just a box to check—it’s the foundation of any successful marketing strategy. Knowing who your audience is, what they value, and how they behave allows you to focus your efforts on the people who are most likely to buy from you.
By leveraging tools, creating personas, and analyzing demographic and psychographic data, you can ensure that your marketing efforts hit the mark. Think of it like a journey: the clearer your destination and the better your map, the smoother the ride—and the more satisfying the results.
Remember, when it comes to targeting your audience, specificity is your superpower. Aim wisely, and you’ll not only reach your audience but resonate with them.
