Finding out who your target audience is can help you to nail your marketing messaging. Read on to discover the benefits and learn how you can shine the spotlight on your own core customers.
If you don’t know the target audience for your marketing, your messaging can be a bit hit and miss. This is because knowing exactly who you need to talk to is key if you want to make a connection with new or existing customers. Without a connection, your marketing is likely to float about in the ether, and it won’t encourage people to come to you for products or services.
To help you identify your target audience and start making more of an impact with your messaging, let’s start with figuring out exactly what a ‘target audience’ is and what the benefits are of identifying them.
What is a target audience?
A target audience is essentially the group of people who form your core customers. This means that they are your VIPs and the people you need to aim your marketing at.
This target audience will all have some things in common, whether it be their age, profession, location, interests, needs – or a combination.
By finding out what these common characteristics are, you can begin to create targeted messaging that resonates with the people who are most likely to turn to you for products or services. By tailoring your marketing to them, you can also begin to foster a deeper connection. This will build trust, an essential ingredient in any commercial relationship.
It also means that you can tailor your methods of communication and the platforms you use. Rather than adopting a time-consuming scattergun approach, you can put your efforts into creating content on the platforms that really matter, boosting your efficiency and reach in the process.
In short, finding your target audience will:
- Create more opportunities
- Create stronger messages
- Give you a better understanding of what your customers need
- Save you time and money
How to find your target audience
To start narrowing down your target audience, you need to take a close look at the people who already buy from you.
A good place to start is with your website’s analytics. Depending on how it is set up, it can help you to form a picture of the age and gender of your customers, where they live and the content they like. It can also reveal useful information about how they access your content and on what device.
You should also explore the analytics of your social media channels. Take a good look at which platforms get the most impressions and engagement and the type of people who interact with your content. This will be useful for deciding which channels you should prioritise in your marketing. Social media can also be an excellent place to glean more information about the values and attitudes of your customers.
Of course, you can also speak directly to your customers to find out more about them. An online survey or a quick phone call can help you to find out what their needs are and what they like about your brand and products or services.
When identifying your target audience, you should also examine what you offer. What are the key features of your product or service? What makes you stand out? And more importantly, what problems can you help your customers to solve?
Finally, don’t forget to take a look at your competition! Jot down your top competitors and then look at the content they are producing on their website and social channels. This will give you a steer on who they are aiming their content at and what platforms are giving them the most success.
Start your targeted marketing
Once you’ve gathered up all the stats, your target audience should start to come into sharper focus.
If it’s helpful, you can then use this information to create buyer personas. You can name each persona and then create a short profile that details their problems, what they’re looking for, and the content, tone of voice and platform that engages them most. If you don’t like the idea of a buyer persona, it’s still a good idea to segment your key audience so that you can be really targeted in your messaging.
You can then begin your new and improved marketing! But don’t forget to continue to monitor your campaigns and evaluate their performance. By seeing what gains the most traction, you can continue to hone your messaging for even better engagement.
It is also a good idea to periodically reevaluate your target audience. Their wants and needs could change over time, or a new audience altogether could appear. By keeping an eye on things, you can ensure that your marketing always remains relevant.
Need a hand with your content marketing?
If you’d like to create targeted content for your organisation, get in touch! We’d love to discuss your content marketing needs with you. Simply drop us a line at hello@methodmarketing.org.