A while back I was working with an excellent cafe business and I asked the question fairly early on, ‘What is your target audience?’ I got some quizzical looks before someone explained to me that everyone was the target audience. I think they were concerned I might propose that they employ doormen to keep the ‘wrong type’ out of their establishment.

Perhaps I should have explained myself better. The aim of a target audience is not to exclude certain people; it is to draw people who would benefit particularly from your product or service. Attempting to target everyone will, unless you have a massive budget and plenty of lines, end up with your marketing looking confused, and no one walking away happy from the experience.

Last week, we looked at a basic explanation of what marketing is (getting the right product, in the right place, for the right price with the right promotion). It makes sense this week to follow up by looking at who we market to.

Target market or target audience

Let’s start here because there is a difference between these terms. They are often used interchangeably though – I know I do. The target market are all those people who might have a need for your product or service. Taking the café example, this would be people in a certain geographical area who are thirsty. That’s quite a few people!

The target audience are those you are particularly trying to speak to. A group of retired ladies planning a community event will (most likely) be looking for a different café experience to a lorry driver taking a quick break on a long journey. No café would refuse to serve either group because they both fall in the target market but the two groups would not likely be in the same target audience; the café may try to appeal to one audience primarily.

Why is it important to identify your target audience?

There are two big risks in not clearly identifying your target audience.

1. You may end up looking confused if you try to appeal to everyone. Different groups will be looking for different things. It’s impossible to meet every person’s expectations. Your supporters and customers will leave disappointed that it wasn’t all they hoped for, your team will get confused and you will end up utterly exhausted.
2. It is incredibly ambitious to hope that your product, service or cause will appeal to everyone. Using your resources to reach every group will give you a poor return on investment.

A clearly defined target audience allows marketers to create messaging that speaks directly to the needs, interests and pain points of that audience, increasing the likelihood of conversions and growing customer loyalty.

How to identify your target audience

At Aubrey, we identify target audiences for clients by looking at a range of characteristics and details. This allows us to get a clear idea of who we are trying to reach with our marketing – these audiences can become so individual, sometimes we even name them.

We look at demographics, like age and gender; psychographics, like values and opinions; and behaviours, like routines and use of other similar products. These are all important aspects to consider when you are identifying your target audience.

Conclusion

Understanding and knowing who your target audience is, is critical for creating successful marketing campaigns that will drive conversions and grow your business. By focusing your messaging on a specific group of people that share common characteristics, you can improve your chances of success and minimize waste.

When you are launching your business or charity, before you think about digital marketing, SEO or even your logo, make sure you have you identified your target market. Use demographics, psychographics and behaviour to help you – go the whole way and give your audience a full back story if you’d like.

Get in touch if you would like to talk about how you can develop your target audience with Aubrey to enhance your marketing.