A target market is the set of consumers that your business plans to sell to with your marketing goals. Within that segment, the target audience is your VIP section - the crew you want to direct your content to.
Think of it this way: your target audience is a more specific subset of a target market. While a target market always has an audience, the same can’t be said for a target audience - it’s not always the full target market. Not everyone sits in the VIP section, but those who do get to sip the top-shelf champagne that contains your sparkling content.
Your target audience refers to the specific group of consumers who are most likely to buy your products or engage in your services. You must direct your content to these cool kids to catch your brand’s magic!
Buyer Persona Roles in a Target Audience
There are two important Buyer Persona roles within a target audience that you should be aware of:
The Supporter: Is your brand’s loudest cheerleader, even if they don’t hold open the purse strings. Think of them as your MVPs. While they may not wear the purchasing crown, they will surely hold the sceptre of influence.
The Decision-Maker: Is your brand’s financial provider. Sometimes, a supporter can also be a decision-maker, but not always. This occurs when the decision maker controls the household’s buying power while the supporter is a spouse or dependent. When the roles are significantly different people, it’s important to gear messaging toward the decision-maker, not the supporter.
7 Ways to Determine Your Target Audience
Analyze your customer base and conduct client interviews: Your customers are dropping hints left, right and centre – it's a hat-trick of info, so don't miss out! Start by analyzing the data they're already serving up on a party platter. But hey, why stop there? Setting up focus groups of previous customers can also provide you with even further feedback on why your products or services are, or are not, selling.
Conduct market research and identify industry trends: Market research is the invaluable treasure trove you build from data gathered from other sources that can identify trends and gaps in services or products that your business can capitalize on. Looking at trends can help you hone in on the products that are selling and help you make your products in demand. Check out those trends like a pro to zero in on what's hot and flying off other shelves.
Analyze competitors: A goldmine of insights is waiting in the competitor landscape. Take a peek at who your competitors are cozying up to on the sales front and their playbook for doing it. And here's the kicker: pay attention to their target game. Are they using online or offline channels? Are they focusing on the decision-maker or the supporter? It's like unravelling the secrets of their success. So, grab your detective hat and dive into the competitor scene – a whole world of strategy is waiting to be uncovered.
Create Buyer Personas: Buyer Personas are very helpful in creating target audiences, especially if you have a product or service that appeals to a large target market. You could identify a buyer that shops for your products at certain times of the year or for certain occasions, like birthdays or special occasions. You don't chat them up like you do with the broader audience who's just grabbing your goodies when they run out or fancy trying something new. Personas spill the tea on the general vibe, the personalities, and the needs of your target consumers. It's like having a cheat sheet to connect on a whole new level.
Define who your target audience isn’t: There will be consumers hovering around your target demographic but won’t jump on the messaging train. Try to be specific in determining who your audience is and who it isn’t. Is your demographic women, specifically women between the ages of 20 and 40? Knowing your niche audience will keep you from devoting marketing spend to segments that will not yield returns.
Revise, revise, revise: As you collect more data and have those heart-to-heart chats with customers, it's similar to understanding your target audiences levelling up. Just like putting more pieces into the puzzle, the big picture suddenly becomes crystal clear. Armed with this info, it's all about the constant fine-tuning. Optimizing and honing those buyer personas becomes the secret sauce for scoring the best results. It's like having a well-tailored suit – you tweak it until it fits just right. So, keep that interaction flow going, gather your data troops, and let the persona evolution party begin. The better you know your audience, the closer you get to the marketing magic!
Use Google Analytics: Google Analytics is your digital detective, handing over a treasure trove of data on the visitors to your site. Dive into it, and you'll uncover key insights. Find out which channels your target audience is coming from and what content sparks their interest. Armed with these insights, your media planning becomes data-driven, helping you make strategic decisions.
Time to Engage Your Target Audience
Brand strategies that take the time to segment their target markets into target audiences deliver better results. Are you speaking to your target audience in the right language, way, and place?
If you need help finding that audience in your target market, The Brand Brew's Brand Development experience will help you create a better-brewed brand. Book your discovery call with us today.