How To Find Your Target Audience
Digital Marketing Made Simple
Finding your target audience is vital. One of the biggest mistakes is trying to target marketing efforts at everyone. Thanks to Google AdWords and social media campaigns, the cost of placing ads is more affordable than ever.
Where once businesses had to target their digital marketing efforts at everyone, campaigns can now be fine-tuned to reach a target audience. There is just one question. Namely, how do businesses define who their target audience is?
What is a Target Audience?
A target audience is the intended group of people that are most likely interested in a certain product. In marketing, it is a group of consumers identified as the recipients for a particular message.
Demographic information can be used to define a target audience, which includes:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Marital status
- Number of children
- Income
- Interests
How to Define a Target Audience
Unless you have an unlimited budget, it’s difficult to reach all your potential clients. Broad digital marketing doesn’t prove cost-effective unless there’s a strategy. This is because:
- With pay per click ads, businesses pay every time an ad is clicked
- Consumers who click ads with no intention of buying increase marketing costs
- Budgets will see more clicks with fewer conversions, reducing the length of time a campaign can run
Put simply, costs can spiral, without experiencing any real benefit.
How to Identify Your Target Audience?
The easiest way to target digital marketing efforts effectively is to create a customer profile unique to your niche.
Few people in their 80’s buy as many tech devices as people in their 20’s and 30’s. Basic market trends see more females engage with ads for hair care and fashion accessories than males.
Identifying your target audience is all about creating a profile of who will likely buy your services.
For example, if you are selling merchandise for Yankees fans you may want to make certain Boston is not one of the cities targeted.
How to Gather Basic Information on Your Target Audience
In short of enlisting the help of the NSA, many businesses don’t know where to start when it comes to profiling their target audience. The good news is that even in-depth profiling can be undertaken easily.
Easy Target Audience Marketing Hacks
- Look at Facebook and other social media profiles of competing businesses
- Conduct marketing surveys which encourage participation from existing customers
- Offer incentives for people to follow on social media and/or subscribe to newsletters
- Identify social media influencers of products and services, looking at key demographic data
Check Out Your Competition
When in doubt all businesses need to do is undertake competitor research. How are others on your playing field communicating to their audience? Who is following your competition on social media?
Research the top players in your niche and study them. Then, you can come up with your own blueprint, customized to your unique message.
