Aim and Fire! How to Identify Your Target Audience

What is a target audience, and why is it important?

Every product or service appeals to a specific buyer type — this would be their target market. For example, expecting parents and caregivers might be interested in buying infant car seats, and wealthy, fashion-focused people might be more willing and able to buy designer clothing.

A potential customer must have the following:

• A need for the product or service (it must solve a problem for them, regardless of whether they’re aware of it)
• A desire for the product once they’re aware of it
• The financial ability to buy it

A product may have more than one target market. For example, Lego toys have two distinct target audiences: parents of elementary and middle school children, and Lego-aficionado adults who like to build things. 

However, a target market and a target audience are not quite the same.

Target audience vs. target market

The terms “target audience” and “target market” are sometimes used interchangeably, but one is a subset of the other.

• Target market: A target market is the broad group of people or businesses to which a company wants to sell its products and services. For example, an organic skin care company would consider its target market to be health-conscious consumers who enjoy organic, natural products. This market could include people of all genders with enough disposable income to afford the products.
• Target audience: A target audience is a smaller group within the target market that shares one or more characteristics, such as age, habits, income level and interests. Advertising campaigns are created around target audiences. Continuing our previous example, the skin care company might identify the following target audiences and create separate marketing campaigns for them while focusing on different product lines:
  
  • Individuals aged 25 to 40 who follow specific wellness influencers on social media
  • Parents who want gentle, organic skin care products for new babies
  • High earners with stressful jobs and demanding hours who worry about their skin looking fatigued

Businesses develop advertising and marketing campaigns to address a target audience’s unique needs, preferences and pain points. Carefully crafted campaigns will increase engagement and drive sales.

Types of target audiences

Consumers respond to advertising that reflects their conscious or unconscious concerns or needs. Brands that tap into those problems or desires can benefit from a high marketing return on investment, but first, they must understand their target audiences. 

In your market research plan, start by using these five factors to separate your target market into target audiences: 

• Demographics: Demographics include age, income, education, marital status and nationality. This is a popular market segmentation category because demographic data is easily available from sources such as surveys and censuses.
• Geography: Companies can target audiences based on where they live or work. For example, a coffee chain that wants to attract commuters could place ads in train stations or on road signs near high-traffic areas to drive foot traffic.
• Psychographics: Psychographics allow marketers to group people by lifestyle, attitudes and values. Next, they create campaigns designed to appeal to their target audience’s motivations and desires.
• Hobbies and interests: Targeting customers by hobbies, interests and passions can yield excellent campaign results. For example, an e-commerce retailer that specializes in outdoor gear might feature the beauty of nature in its marketing to appeal to avid hikers and nature enthusiasts.
• Purchase intent: Consumers display different interest levels when they’re considering buying something. For example, a laptop company might create general ads for those researching options and more detailed ads that highlight specific features for those at or near the point of purchase.

The more data you collect, the more you can segment your market to create new target audiences. For example, you could drill down further to find the following customer segments: 

• High-spending customers: Analyze data from your customer relationship management (CRM) system to identify your highest-spending customers, and create a campaign tailored to them to boost customer loyalty. For example, a high-end jeweler might develop a campaign for VIP customers in which it offers early access to new products or more personalized service.
• Value-conscious consumers: Data from CRM and point-of-sale systems can reveal customers who take advantage of sales and discounts, use digital coupons, and frequently purchase store-brand products. For example, a grocery store chain could target promotions to these value-driven shoppers by highlighting weekly deals, coupons or loyalty rewards. 
• Eco-conscious consumers: Survey data, online interactions and purchase histories can help companies identify eco-conscious consumers. For example, an outdoor-apparel business could target these buyers by promoting products made from recycled materials or by emphasizing its eco-friendly packaging. 

A concentrated focus allows brands to create highly personalized and relevant campaigns that connect deeply with specific customer segments. That approach will likely result in higher engagement levels and more successful lead conversions.

Examples of target audiences 

Let’s look at how a business-to-consumer (B2C) company and a business-to-business (B2B) company might segment their target markets into specific audiences and how those audiences might affect the companies’ messaging and marketing strategies.

B2C target audiences

First, let’s use the example of a sportswear company. A key target audience for this particular brand might be high-performance athletes aged 18 to 29 who want the most durable apparel, running shoes and training gear. Here’s how the marketing team might define the brand’s target audience:

From this breakdown, the marketing team can see that this group prioritizes balancing style and function. They want gear that works well during exercise but still looks good when they meet up with friends or a partner. It also must be priced low enough to fit their modest budget.

To connect with this audience, campaigns could highlight the brand’s durable, stylish, affordable sportswear. By offering bundles of clothing for a discount and a buy-now-pay-later option, the brand may increase sales. To get that message out, the company might partner with athletes or independent influencers to promote their products. Sending free samples to vloggers, bloggers and sports review sites for reviews could also bring big benefits. [Read related: Get Influencers to Market Your Product]

Let’s also say the same sportswear company produces a range of yoga apparel. This is how the marketing and product development teams might profile this target audience:

This audience is focused particularly on wellness and mindfulness, and yoga fits perfectly with these interests. Their passion for yoga is a form of self-expression and personality, so they gravitate toward clothes that work both for yoga and social settings. This particular target audience might be a bit older and more settled, preferring muted colors for their outfits.

To connect with this audience, the marketing team could highlight the elegance and versatility of the clothing and how their garments are natural fits for a variety of settings, from yoga to social events.

The strength of audience targeting for B2C brands is in how they can adapt the same clothes, shoes or experiences to match the preferences of different consumer groups.

B2B target audiences

Now let’s look at how a big bank might target two different audiences. Many banks battle to win the checking accounts of startups and small businesses. This is what the profile for this target audience might look like:

The bank’s messaging needs to reflect the unique and stressful experience of startup and small business owners. They can zero in on their need to know more about funding options because they’re hungry for growth. [Read related: The Best Business Loan and Financing Options]

This audience also will appreciate advice and guidance on how to manage a business both financially and operationally. They are thirsty for knowledge, value mentorship, and avidly consume articles and thought leadership pieces on all aspects of running a company, such as scaling and finding ways to cut costs.

To connect with this audience, the bank’s campaigns could focus on how the bank helps businesses survive and grow. They could provide a knowledge base of articles for entrepreneurs on their website, which is great for SEO, as well as highlight their easy-to-access funding options for this sector, particularly if they are a Small Business Administration loan partner. 

Another great resource may be detailed case studies on business news sites and success stories on LinkedIn. These stories should detail the entire journey to show the target audience that there is a path to growth. [Read related: Creating a LinkedIn Business Profile]

Now let’s look at how this same bank might define and target scaling tech firms that may have already received investor backing, albeit in the early rounds of funding.

This audience needs its banking partner to be able to support its projected rapid scaling. Tech integrations are particularly important to these target clients, so the bank’s marketing will need to show how their apps and tech are compatible with popular CRM systems, accounting software and application programming interfaces for more specialized functions. The bank needs to communicate that they will be responsible for adapting to their clients’ systems and not the other way around.

That’s not the only area where strong messaging is needed here. At this stage of their development, scaling businesses may need more sophisticated products from their bank, such as treasury and cash management programs, scalable business loans and business credit lines. 

For these businesses, content marketing, like blogging, is often one of the most effective ways to reach and engage with this target audience. Its focus should be on delivering high-value financial insights while demonstrating the bank’s track record of supporting similar businesses. Case studies should highlight how the bank helped businesses scale. Other strategies might include gathering an audience on LinkedIn, sponsoring venture capital networks and events, and being featured on industry and tech new sites. [Read related: How Do Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists Differ?]

The cost per lead on these types of campaigns will always be high, and the sales team will need to carefully nurture a prospect through to the sale. However, the rewards will be worth it.

How to identify your target audience

Identifying your target audience involves creating profiles of your ideal customers. These customer personas paint a picture of who needs your products and services, allowing you to market to these customers better. Follow these steps to identify your target audience.  

1. List the attributes of your target audience in relation to your product.

List the attributes of the people who are most likely to benefit from your product. For example, say you offer a moisturizing cream. Narrow your focus by identifying the attributes of people your product would appeal to. For example, ask these questions:

• Are they younger or older? 
• What benefits are they looking for — convenience, efficacy, affordability or anti-aging properties?
• Would they use this product every day, periodically or just on special occasions? 
• Brainstorm as many attributes as possible to pinpoint specific customer traits that fit with the product’s benefits.

2. Ask questions about the demographics and psychographics of your target audience.

When you’re identifying your audience, dig deep into demographics and psychographics. 

Gather demographic information.

Start with the obvious information, and then get more detailed. For example, ask these questions:

• Who is most likely to buy my product?
• How old are they?
• Are they married?
• Do they have children? How old are the children?
• Where do they live? 
• What are their income and educational levels? 

This information will tell you the best channels for reaching these customers and how to appeal to them on a fundamental level. For example, if you have a home services company, like HVAC repair, it would make sense to focus on local marketing strategies to reach nearby homeowners and businesses. When you’re marketing to people ages 15 to 35, consider using text message marketing to increase the likelihood that they’ll see your messages. 

Demographics also determine the most compelling images for social media campaigns and ads. For example, if your target audience consists of married couples with children, use photos of families. If your target audience is young, use images of younger people.

Add psychographic information.

In addition to demographic information, layer in psychographic information, which offers insight into why people might buy your product or similar products. For example, say an abstract artist wants to understand promising prospective buyers. A demographic and psychographic profile for this type of art buyer may look like this:

Demographics:

• Ages: 40 to 65
• Income: $100,000+  
• Education: Bachelor’s degree and above

Psychographics:

• They enjoy entertaining at home.
• They’re an entrepreneur.
• They’re status-conscious.
• They have a fine arts background.
• They’re looking to discover and become a patron for new artists.

Every answer should raise new questions until you have a good idea of who is buying your product.

3. Know the problem your product solves for your target audience.

When you know what problem your product or service solves, you can market it more effectively to the right audience. For example, if you sell a water filtration system, you remove toxins from tap water. Therefore, you want to appeal to homeowners who are environmentally aware and conscious of what they put into their bodies. You can further segment your target audience to focus on parents of young children who want clean, filtered water for their families. 

4. Listen to customer feedback to better understand your target audience.

Use customer feedback to gather information on how current customers view and use your product. Ask them why they bought the product. This feedback gives you valuable information as you market to prospective customers. Consider changing your marketing approach to incorporate insights from current customers. This information also may affect your perception of your target customer. 

5. Check social media to understand your target audience.

Social media is a valuable tool for small businesses that want to pinpoint their target audience. Social media sites offer analytics that reveal who is interacting with your brand’s accounts and which posts they find interesting. 

These social media metrics will help you understand the people who are paying attention to your company and products so you can identify your niche. You’ll also discover which posts were most effective in getting a reaction.

6. Automate your actions to identify your target audience.

After checking your social media analytics, go a step further by using social media automation. For example, some tools allow you to automate lead generation from your LinkedIn business profile, directing you to the people on that platform who might want to purchase your product. You could do the same with your Facebook marketing strategies and Google business profile. 

7. Look at your competitors to determine your target audience.

Business owners who fail to analyze their competitors rarely stay in business. To keep your business competitive, you must know who is buying from other firms in your sector, why they’re buying from them, and what you do differently. 

For example, your competitors may focus on business customers while you address consumers. Or maybe your target audience is similar to your competitors’, but your solutions are different and may appeal to other customers. 

Knowing what your competitors are doing will help you narrow your focus and determine your ideal client.

8. Know your value to your target audience.

Before selling to your target customers, you must know why they’ll buy your product. You must be confident about your product’s value and convey that information to your ideal client. 

When you know your product’s value, you can determine who will likely accept that value and want your product. This will determine your audience. For example, if you sell expensive jewelry, you’ll appeal to people with disposable income who appreciate your product quality and craftsmanship.

9. Create a positioning statement to identify your target audience.

To ensure you send the right branding message, create a positioning statement that shows you know your target audience. 

For example, if you sell a skin care cream with sunscreen and anti-aging properties, your positioning statement might be, “For mature adults who want to protect and nourish their skin with natural ingredients, XYZ offers a skin care treatment that takes as little as two minutes to apply.” 

From that statement, it’s obvious that the target audience includes busy, older people who care about their health and skin.

10. Test your theory to ensure you have the right target audience.

After completing these steps, you must ensure you have the right target audience. To do this, develop a sample ad and market it to your target customer group. On social media, you can create an ad that appeals specifically to your target audience and see how many of these users click through to your website. 

With print ads, you won’t have a click-through option, but you can use a call-to-action code so you know prospects are responding to it.

Benefits of identifying your target audience

Here are just a few of the ways identifying your target audience can benefit your business:

• Focused marketing budget: Narrowing your marketing focus creates more effective marketing. You waste less money trying to reach people who will never be interested in what you’re selling. 
• Better leads: Marketing to your target audience will result in higher-quality leads and increased sales because you’ll reach people with the need, desire and ability to buy your product.
• Actionable data analytics: Concentrating on a limited audience allows you to spend more time analyzing your marketing results. You can compare data analytics and different marketing elements with A/B testing and make improvements. 
• Tailored messaging: Targeted marketing allows you to tailor your marketing message specifically to the customer’s needs. For example, say you have a car dealership. When marketing to younger buyers, you can highlight speed, attractiveness and environmental features. However, with older buyers, you might focus on luxury models and safety features.

Start marketing to your target audience

Once you’ve defined your target customers, you can begin marketing in full force. You’ll be more effective when you’re not casting such a wide net. Instead, you’ll be able to focus on the people who are the most likely to buy from you. This way, you’ll conduct cost-effective, focused marketing that gets the most bang for your advertising budget while staying tuned in to your customers’ needs. 

Usman Raza contributed to this article.