Understanding your target audience is an important part of any successful marketing campaign. But what is a target audience?
Well, have you ever seen an ad and thought, “this isn’t for me”? Often, this is because the message wasn’t tailored specifically for you. The business simply didn’t have you in mind as a target audience.
In this guide, we’ll answer all of your questions about target audiences:
So, let’s begin.
What is a target audience? 🤔
What is a target audience? What is a target market? Are they the same thing?
A target audience, sometimes referred to as a target market, is a group of people within a larger population who are the primary focus of a message, product, or service.
Figuring out your target audience is an essential step in any marketing strategy. It helps you to communicate with potential customers more effectively since you’ll know their age, gender, interests, and needs.
Knowing your target audience means you can craft messages that effectively capture the attention of those people most likely to buy from you. It will also help you decide where it’s best to advertise so that your message reaches the right people.
What is a target profile? 💡
Now that we’ve answered the question of what is a target audience, it’s time to talk about target profiles.
What is a target profile?
In a nutshell, a target profile (sometimes called a customer profile) helps every business figure out who its audience actually is. Often, a target profile consists of sociodemographic information such as age, gender, occupation, location, interests, and lifestyle to pinpoint what resonates best with people.
Establishing a target profile early on helps you make sure that your business name and other elements of your branding appeal to the right people. Furthermore, by incorporating this knowledge into your marketing campaigns, you can learn how to communicate your brand’s message more effectively.
That said, it’s important to remember that a target profile isn’t set in stone; as trends change and evolve over time, so should your understanding of what makes up your ideal customer.
How to create a target profile in 4 steps 📝
Creating a target profile is essential for achieving any marketing goal or objective.
When constructing your profile, you can think of it as assembling a puzzle. Start by gathering the elements you’ll need to form the picture of who you aim to reach. Then, as you bring all these elements together, step back and evaluate if the pieces work well together to create one cohesive target profile that feels true to your unique mission.
With proper research and planning, you will have developed a reliable template for understanding your audience, which in turn, sets the entire project up for success.
Here’s a closer look at each component that can help you create a solid target profile.
Step 1: Determine why they buy from you 💳
Understanding why your audience buys from you is fundamental to successful marketing. A great way to start examining this process is to consider the problem that you are solving.
Ask yourself: who would most benefit from the services or products you offer? What pain point of theirs are you solving?
Once you figure out the problem you provide a solution for, it’s much easier to gain insight into your target demographic. For example, if you sell maternity clothes, you can reasonably assume that most members of your target audience are women.
Step 2: Research industry trends 📈
Researching industry trends is essential when you are trying to determine who your target audience is. It requires a deep dive into knowing what people are talking about, looking at consumer data, and gauging potential market shifts.
You’ll need to track overall consumer behavior in the relevant industries as well as other factors, such as seasonality, to get an accurate picture of the audience base you’re trying to attract.
Analyzing competitor data can be especially useful in determining how different groups consume similar products or services and understanding their needs. You can look for data published by large companies and/or use online tools to check the traffic of your competitors’ websites.
And don’t forget about your current customers. It’s wise to gain feedback from existing customers on what they appreciate seeing most from your brand. This will help you develop highly effective target messaging that resonates with the right people!
Step 3: Study your audience 🧑🎓
The best way to go about understanding your audience is by gathering as much data as you can about them.
This data should include the following:
- Demographic information such as their age, gender, and marital status
- Psychographic information like their interests, activities, lifestyle, and values
- Geographic information, including where they live and what language they speak
- Insights from website analytics on things like what types of content they’re consuming, where they’re coming from, and other helpful insights
In addition, you can use surveys to get direct feedback from your customers in order to gain insight into their wants and needs.
Don’t forget about social media, either. It gives you great insights into consumer interest and shows user sentiment towards the product or brand, which can be very valuable information.
Step 4: Compile your target profile data 💾
Now that you have all the data from the previous three steps, it’s time to compile your target profile. You can simplify this process by using a customer profile template.
At this stage, you’ll want to pay attention to every component. For example, from their social media interactions, look at what types of conversations they engage in and the type of lifestyles they live.
Ask yourself: what kind of behaviors does this particular group have? Are there any specific ways you can reach out to them using social media or other advertising channels?
Taking the answers to these questions into consideration will help you create a profile that resonates with the people you are targeting.
Take your time in defining your target audience 🕰️
So, when it comes to marketing, what is a target audience?
Target audiences are the customer you are trying to target with your products and services. They map out what that customer looks like, their interests, age range, and needs, so you can better understand what they want and craft content or services they’ll be interested in.
Understanding your target profile requires considering why customers buy your product, researching industry trends, studying your audience’s behaviors and preferences, and compiling a target profile from your gathered information.
If you’re researching target audiences, you’re likely starting a new business. But what happens if you have limited resources? 👇
Check out our post on how to start an online business with no money to find out how to navigate this tricky process.
