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Creating a marketing and communication strategy without knowing your target audience is like shooting in the dark.
A multifaceted approach is best to zero down on the right target audience.
What is Target Audience?
Get closer than ever to your customers.
So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.
Target audience examples:
Product Software for project management
GeneralBusiness that are in need of project management solutions.
7 Steps to Identify Your Target Audience (secrets of marketing experts revealed!)
An effective marketing and communication strategy depends on properly identifying your target audience.
Therefore, the quality and accuracy of the identification are paramount.
Analyze Your Existing Customers
The first step in successfully identifying your target audience is thoroughly analyzing your customer base.
Surveys and CRM data, too, are other valuable sources.
Conduct Market Research
when you obtain analyzed your customer base, you must score the market for potential opportunities.
The same applies to branded clothing that caters to consumers aspirations to keep up with appearances.
Persona 2: Henry, a 48-year-old entrepreneur, is from San Francisco and is exceptionally tech-savvy.
He prefers innovative solutions that are both efficient and convenient.
Through market segments, you’re free to vary your mode of marketing too based on audience preferences.
For example, college students prefer marketing on social platforms and might not be too keen on email campaigns.
Feedback should not be just a one-off process.
The trick is to monitor your target consumers and adjust your strategy based on their changing preferences.
Through these 7 steps, you have a comprehensive approach to identifying and understanding your target audience.
I have further segmented these types of target audience into specific categories for better understanding below.
Interests
Another aspect to consider is what excites the users interest to making a purchase.
By understanding these target audiences, you could create content based on the culture, purchase intention and interests.
Switchers and first-time buyers, for instance, need more product information from a marketing perspective.
Failing to define a target audience has several negative consequences for a company.
I have listed the consequences of not identifying a clear audience below.
Therefore, being clear on ones target audience cannot be overlooked.
Common Mistakes to Avoid (the 3 rules of thumb you must follow!)
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
The rule of thumb 3:Rely on research and not assumptions.
These mistakes can prove costly when blindsided, so ensure you factor them into your marketing plan.
Furthermore, use a data-driven approach to understand and identify your audience effectively.
Here are 4 of my favorite practical tools to identify and analyze target audience:
1.
Google Analytics
Google Analyticsis a web analytics service that is offered for free by Google.
It tracks the traffic of websites and can provide valuable information on audience interests, behavior, and demographics.
While content might be king, the user is the queen in this game of chess, after all.
Semrush
Semrushprovides you with a toolkit for comprehensive SEO and marketing.
Along with this, it offers additional features for audience research and analysis.
Through this, it is simpler to find new audience segments that can be targeted.
They even provide a free tier.
you could in the later stages incorporate them into your digital marketing strategy too.
I like the way Audiense presents its report post analyzing the interests and demographics of existing social media followers.
This helps in better understanding your current audience base.
you might get a better idea of how your brand is perceived through sentiment analysis and tracking brand mentions.
While leveraging these tools doe snake things easier, dont forget to conduct thorough research too.
And no, they arent the same thing!
The target market is a broad group of potential customers the company sets goals to reach.
This would be an overall pool of consumers that might show interest in the product.
The shared characteristics of this group are based on interests, needs, or demographics.
This group will most likely engage with marketing messages and become potential customers.
They have specific behaviors, traits, and preferences, making them ideal for the product.
Target Market:People with an interest in either sports or fitness at a personal or professional level.
Here, are two examples that come to my mind:
1.
New Coke (1985)
Coca-Cola had already achieved fame by the 1985s.
