What is a Target Audience?

I am not going to fluff this blog with things you might already know. If you are a serious marketer, this piece is not going to be much of a revelation to you. However, if you're someone who is just getting started or someone who wants to build their own target audience, read carefully, and take notes.

In the shortest possible way, we could say that:
a Target Audience is a group of people within your Target Market who will most likely respond to your campaign.

Now, let's break down what all of that really means.

Let's back up a little bit and define...

What Exactly is a Target Market?

When you decide to create a brand, start selling a product or a service, you need to know who you are going to sell it to.

A Target Market is a group of people who are most likely to use or buy your product or a service.

Defining your Target Market and your Target Audience is a crucial step in developing your business strategy. It should be one of the first steps you make after you decide to start a business.

So, how do we find out what our Target Market and then Target Audience are?‍

Let's Learn Through an Example

Let's play a little imagination game. Perhaps the best and easiest way is to learn through an example.

So, how about this:

You are a seller of pet supplements.

You woke up today and learned that you got an inheritance from a very rich uncle who you never met. You love animals, so you decide to sell supplements for pets.

As a seller of pet supplements, the users of your products are pets.

They are the ones who will be using your product but obviously they are not your target market–the pet owners are.

The owners are the one who will read your ads, the ones who will understand what you're saying, and–most importantly–they are the one with money.

And, while this example is quite banal, and is really obvious to anyone who thinks about it for a second or two, it should help highlight how important it is to focus on the correct group of people. The more specific you get, the better.

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So, how can you do that?

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Conduct Market Research

Everything starts with research.

There are a couple of things you can do, such as surveys, focus groups, interviews, and online research.

Some of these might be expensive, and let's say your uncle's inheritance will not cover this aspect.

• You can create surveys online, using different survey tools such as SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, or SurveyGizmo. You may even create your own survey on Google Forms and use your social media and connections to gather as much data as your can.
• While having focus groups and professional researchers to conduct interviews is a really great way to gather information about your target audience, you can actually do a bit of that yourself. Do you know someone who fits your broad target market, aka: someone who owns a pet? Talk to them. Know someone who knows someone who owns a pet? Talk to them. People usually enjoy talking about themselves, so take some time and get to know what your target market likes.
• Online research is also a great (and often free) way to get insights on your target market. Using Google, Reddit, and reading through people's comments can give you a really good idea of what they like, dislike, and miss. There are also organisations whose job it is to gather customer data all over the world. Getting these insights might be costly, but if you end up getting the key information you need, it will pay off multiple times!

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Some of the key areas you should focus on during your market research include:

1. Customer needs and preferences: What are your customers looking for in a pet supplement? What are their pain points, and how can your business help solve them? Why are they looking for supplements? 
2. Competition: Who are your main competitors, and what are they offering? What are their strengths and weaknesses, and how can your business differentiate itself?
3. Market size and trends: How big is the market for pet supplements, and is it growing or shrinking? What are the current and emerging trends in the market?
4. Demographics: What are the age, gender, income, education level, and other demographic factors of your potential customers?

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By gathering all this information, you'll get a better understanding of who your target market is. This will help tailor your campaign, but also your products and services. Maybe most pet owners want their supplement delivered on their doorstep without them even asking for it? Maybe a subscription option would help you stay ahead of your competition.

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Analysing Your Data to Define your Target Audience

After you gathered all the data, you need to analyse it and segment the people by commonalities. Below you'll see a graph showcasing the process of going from your customer profile to customer segments. Segmenting your audience as narrowly as possible will result in them thinking you speak directly to them–as if you were listening in on their thoughts–and that is when you'll be able to create best performing campaigns.

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Using Your Data to Create an Ideal Customer

We can use the data we have gathered to create a detailed profile of our ideal customer.

Let's imagine we did the market research and it turned out that our ideal customer is most likely a woman, and in her late twenties to late thirties. We can create a profile of her that would look something like this:

Now, you can create your website, Brand Persona, visit cards, packaging, ads, and campaigns tailored to what Sarah would like to see. 

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So...is Brand Persona same as Ideal Customer?

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Well, no.

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But it is a good question. *taps herself on the back*

I will make sure to cover Brand Personas in one of my next blogs.

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In the mean time...

If you're worried or stuck with defining your target audience, hit me up! I am good with research, and have worked on building brands tailored to their ideal customers.