The word “target audience” is an honored guest in marketing plans for a very simple reason: everything is done for “them”.
The target audience will be the final target of all marketing actions, for whom everything will be done.
See what Andrew Cohen says when defining what Marketing is :
Marketing is meeting the needs and desires of a consumer.
To satisfy the needs of the target audience and play a critical role in market trends, Marketing professionals need, above all, to know them .
Define your target audience personas
It is necessary to develop a profile of your typical consumers and your target audience, refining these characteristics until you reach an ideal model.
To get an accurate idea of who the people are who want what you have to offer, their needs, problems, and how to approach possible solutions – develop a Persona .
You may also want to separate them by the following demographic characteristics:
- Age – usually given in ranges such as 16 – 24 years;
- Gender;
- Marital status;
- Address – mainly city and state;
- Family size and description;
- Income – especially disposable income, that is, money that can be spent by the family group;
- Education level – up to the last level completed;
- Occupation;
- Interests, shopping profile;
- Cultural and ethnic background.
We have a full article on exactly how to create a persona here!
Why draw this consumer “model”?
You see, if you are, for example, a clothing manufacturer, you may have a huge number of possible target markets to target: babies, athletes, seniors, adults, youth and even tourists.
An overall profile of each of these potential markets can tell you which ones are more realistic targets, pose less risk, are easier markets to target, or are more likely to bring profits.
Through market research of the most likely target audiences, or those who buy for that audience (such as parents who buy for their toddler or toddler), you are able to separate the true and profitable target markets from the markets more unlikely and less profitable.
Once you have defined your target audience, you should learn about their needs and preferences by answering the following questions:
- What problems does your audience have that can be solved using your products or services?
- What are your needs and expectations regarding this product or service?
- What kinds of things do they want?
- What kinds of things do they invest or spend money on?
- Where do they make these purchases?
- How do they make these purchasing decisions?
These are just some of the things you’ll want to know about your prospects before you start marketing to reach them.
TIP: Has your company already defined the ideal customer?
Without having in mind the type of customer that is ideal for your company, your company will be at the mercy of problematic situations.
For example:
- Spend time and money prospecting customers who do not have the financial capacity to buy your product;
- In B2B cases, direct marketing campaigns to those who do not have the purchasing decision power in companies;
- Create a product for those who don’t see value in it;
- Among others.
Target Audience and Market Research
To develop the complete, correct and ideal profile of your consumers, you can make use of famous market researches .
Knowing more about market research can improve your business decisions.
Know where to find and gather information on your audience’s key demographics: location, age, income, education, etc.
Learn more about how to profile your audience and refine your target audience in our article “ What are personas? ”.
But it’s not just buyers that successful companies are made: it’s no use having a huge market waiting for you if what you have to offer isn’t what you need, isn’t accessible or isn’t known by anyone.
To guarantee sales and, consequently, the success of your company, you must fulfill the requirements that Marketing scholars call “The 4 Ps of Marketing”, a concept that we will present below.
Follow the remaining chapters in the series of articles on MARKETING.
Chapter 1 – What is marketing?
Chapter 2 – Target Audience: The Ideal Market Segmentation
Chapter 3 – Marketing Mix: Understand the 4Ps Formula
Chapter 4 – Digital Marketing in the 21st Century
Conclusion – Marketing: everything you need to know
Enjoy!
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