Defining a Business’s Target Audience Is Essential to the Marketing Process
A big mistake that is often made in the marketing world is trying to appeal to everyone. Without a specific audience in mind, a marketing campaign might not be successful because it casts too broad of a net. That is why it is essential to define the ideal consumer you are attempting to reach. Once your target audience is defined, you will focus your strategy on that audience and grow your business.
What Is a Target Market?
A target audience is a group of people you are trying to reach with your product or service. It might be a specific demographic, a specific income bracket, or even a geographic area. For example, Spanish-speaking people who live in Texas would fall into the Hispanic market.
When it comes time to determine your potential customers, start by thinking about the specific needs your product meets. By identifying the problem and who has that problem, you will create your ideal audience.
Why Define Your Audience?
Defining your target audience will help you improve and fine-tune your marketing strategy. It will help you focus on your audience and give you a better idea of how to market to them. For example, if you are selling an offering that helps people exercise more, then presenting the product to someone who has trouble finding the motivation to exercise might be ideal.
Tips to Cultivating the Perfect Customer Profile
Two helpful characteristics to examine when identifying target markets is demographics and psychographics. Demographics are the common characteristics you can measure and compare, such as age, income level, gender, education level, and race. Psychographics are more challenging to measure but include interests, opinions, personality traits, attitudes, principles, and beliefs. Using this information helps you define potential customers that are interested in your product or service.
Understanding your target customer’s demographics and psychographics allows you to market more effectively and efficiently. You gain insight into who they are and where they are located and what they are interested in, how they feel, and their characteristics. Together, demographics and psychographics can give you an in-depth look at the audience you are attempting to reach.
Why Is Creating Target Markets Important?
As a result of identifying your market segment, you will better understand your ideal customer. With a perfect consumer in mind, you will be better able to craft an effective marketing strategy and save money in the long run.
By targeting specific consumers who are more likely to be interested in your product, there is potential to see more return for your spending. Rather than spending on a generic campaign, hoping to reach as many people as possible, it is more cost-effective to define your audience and create quality content tailored specifically to that audience.
There is so much information you can learn about your ideal customers. As you understand your audience’s needs and wants, you adapt your product to meet those needs. Knowing your target audience gives you insight into what they need. From there, you can craft a marketing message to appeal directly to that audience and have more success growing your current customer base.
Learn More Today
If you are a business owner looking to grow your customer base, ChoiceLocal offers targeted local marketing. We help businesses connect with potential consumers from various digital marketing solutions like SEO, PPC, Email Marketing, Marketing Analytics, and Social Media Marketing. If you would like to learn more about how our marketing efforts can help, contact ChoiceLocal today!
About the Author
Tim Mott is a Digital Marketing Specialist at ChoiceLocal. Outside of the office, he enjoys spending time with friends, family, and his two dogs, supporting Cleveland sports teams, and attempting to make new food recipes found online.
