How to Find Your Target Audience

Getting people to be aware of your brand is one thing, but getting the right people to do so? It surely needs more than just a hunch to get your target audience right. In the marketing field, the target audience refers to the specific group of individuals that your business wants to capture and interact with through content marketing activities. Instead of aiming for a broad range of audiences, your brand focuses on engaging with this group because these are the people who are more likely to turn into clients or users. 

One of the basic foundations of a successful marketing strategy is to find a potential target audience. As an aspiring entrepreneur, has your business already had one?

Why is Target Audience Important?

Different products or services have different types of customers. As an easy example, it would be rather odd to have automotive parts advertisements being displayed on a beauty discussion group. To avoid such an embarrassing mismatch, it is crucial to first identify the target audience before running any marketing campaign. The targeting step will make it easier to aim for new clients and attract prospective them to your website or social media, thus leading to higher engagement and eventually, conversion rates and sales.

Dividing your audience into segmented groups will be beneficial in the process of maintaining communication, deciding marketing tone and style, as well as choosing the most suitable platform to connect with them. Knowing who you are engaging with allows you to promote more efficient and plan more effective strategies. Moreover, having insights on what works and what does not can help your business double down on successful marketing techniques!

Factors to Consider in Deciding Your Target Audience

Chances are, your target audiences will have at least one thing in common, even if they may not come from the same region or age group. However, their demands will be generally equivalent. They are not really quite a homogeneous group, but they do share significant similarities. Here are some factors you need to take into account to find the most suited clients for your brand.

1 . Demographics

Since the data is readily available, demographics are the most commonly used method of identifying the target market. You could use free census data, analytics software such as Google Analytics, and consumer insights to your advantage. Demographic groupings segment the market into smaller segments depending on characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, level of education, occupation, and many more.

2 . Geographic Location

Where is your target audience? Are they all situated in the same city or time zone? Your content marketing plan must be coordinated in terms of timing and audience location. Location-based groups segment the market by location, allowing you to better serve customers in a particular region. It is based on geographical locations such as nations, states, and cities, but it also takes into account other elements such as cultural preferences, population, and climate.

3 . Interest

Psychographic segmentation serves as the foundation for interest groups. They address your target market’s attitudes, interests, personality, opinions, and lifestyle. This can include books, movies, hobbies like dancing, hiking, or anything else that your customers want to see or value. Understanding the interests of a target audience allows you to provide more relevant ads, create content that buyers care about, and design more compelling products.

4 . Purchasing Behavior

Purchasing behavior is the state of mind in which your target audience is when they make a purchase. Users who have recently interacted with your business or looked for a product are classified into these audiences. It suggests they want to buy a product from your business but need more information or a little encouragement to do so. This includes a variety of factors to illustrate a customer’s route to purchase, including behavioral data, demographics, channel usage, and device. Getting your purchasing behavior right enables you to retarget advertising or content to different intent groups in order to drive them closer to making a purchase.

Step by Step to Find the Right Target Audience

Now that you know where or who to include as your potential customers, what are the steps if you want to precisely find your target audience?

1 . Define Your Goals and Objectives

The first and the most fundamental step is to clearly define your goals and objectives. If you have a set of solid marketing goals laid out, it will be easier for you to get your target audience right. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales goals are more noticeable for some businesses. However, KPIs might also include increased brand awareness, more customers from a targeted demographic, or the expansion of an email subscription list. Your target marketing will be more successful once you’ve specified those goals. It may be easier to create content when you know what you’re seeking to get your audience to do. This supports managing your marketing efforts and keeping your marketing team on the same page.

2 . Do Audience Research

The concept of creating a customer profile to better understand your customer is at the heart of target marketing. This is when market segmentation comes into play. Customer profiles may be established using a variety of methods, but combining as many as feasible makes your personas more effective, studied, and defined. Examine your current online audience and collect as much defining customer information as can from the segments. Include your website, email list, social media, and any other digital channel where your brand is accessible. Encourage both customers and non-customers to participate in a survey, in which you give small incentives like discount coupons or freebies. 

3 . Keep an Eye on Competitors

Observing your competitors should not be translated as copying their business conducts and applying them to yours. This means that you can analyze your competitors and their target audiences. Since it is both not possible and not ethical to get a thorough insight from their insider data, you can always do your research from their social media to see what types of audiences interact with them the most. Keeping track of who your competitors are and identifying whether they meet customers’ demands or not can help you refine your own approach, thus differentiating your business. Consider who their intended audience is. How are they communicating with them? What do they do well? Improvise, adapt, and overcome!

Finally, you have learned about some of the fundamental aspects of finding your target audience, then the best way to make this article helpful for your brand is to actually apply it. Of course, it takes time, trial-and-error, and lots of effort to make this a successful strategy for your business. If you think you cannot really deal with this, let us be of help! 

Contact us and let’s discuss further.