Finding your target audience is a vital part of business and marketing in general. In the digital world, where there is a constant cacophony of content and options, it becomes all the more important. Having a defined audience to target will give you direction, and will allow you to focus all efforts and resources on those more likely to provide you with a satisfying outcome. But what exactly is a target audience? And why is it so crucial to have one? And more importantly…how do you find yours?
Let’s dive right in!
What is a target audience?
A target audience is the specific group of consumers you aim to target with your content, business, and overall marketing strategy. It’s a group of people characterised by certain demographics, carefully chosen due to the high potential for engagement. (Basically, the people you think your business will appeal to.)
Why do you need a target audience?
Marketing is a people-focused affair. Knowing your audience is at the very core, and having a specific target audience can give your strategy a clear aim. But more importantly, having a target audience narrows down the approach, to ensure your effort and resources are going toward the right people. This way, your marketing is a safer investment. It also helps you establish your business among the right customer base, sparking not only success but growth.
How to find your target audience
Finding your target audience should be an ongoing process to ensure it’s always as refined and streamlined as possible. Here are some of our key pointers:
- Gather information about your customer base
To get to know your target audience, you first need to collect information about your customer base, as it provides a strong model of who you should be targeting. For this, you can make use of online tools. Google Analytics, for example, will give you details about your site’s audience, including demographic insights like age, gender, and location.
- Create a profile
Once you have collected enough information, you need to create what is known as a ‘profile’. This should be a summary of what your customer base looks like, serving as a guide on which type of audience you’re going to target. It can also be helpful to create a ‘mock’ customer. This is a made-up person, who takes on all of the main traits most commonly found among your customer base. You can run all strategies by this ‘person’ to check whether they would be relevant.
- Monitor engagement analytics
As we’ve already mentioned, finding your target audience should be an ongoing process. It’s crucial that you consistently monitor engagement, and one way to do this is by keeping up with any analytics you get back. You should do this for most content that you post, if not all, so that you get an in-depth understanding of what is working on who.
- Utilise demographic insights across all media channels
Your target audience can sometimes vary depending on the media channel you’re using. For example, different social media mediums might have different customer bases, which alter the type of profile you target. This is why it’s important to utilise the demographic insights across them all and to tweak and adapt your approach accordingly.
- Run tests
As with most things, finding your target audience can take some trial and error. Running tests and experimenting from time to time can help you fine-tune the profile you target, and in some cases it can provide you with additional insights that help you expand beyond your established customer base, allowing your business to grow.
- Research your competitors
If you’re struggling to find your target audience, a great lead is to research your competitors within the industry. Who are they targeting? Chances are, you should be targeting the same people! Of course, it’s important to balance the pros and cons of this. Sometimes targeting the same audience can lead to a waste of resources and tools, especially if the competitor is bigger!
Finding your target audience can seem daunting at first, but it often comes down to understanding your own business, and who it can benefit. Just remember that once you’ve found the audience, you have to then think of ways to engage them efficiently!
If you’d like to read more digital marketing tips, check out the It Works Blog. Alternatively, get in touch today and learn how we can help your business grow.