You want people to see your ads, visit your website and buy your products. The question is ‘which people?’ There’s a saying that if you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one. While that statement can be applied to many areas of life, it’s certainly relevant to marketing.
Different types of target audiences exist, and some will be more receptive than others to what you have to offer. Knowing your target audience is vital to make sure your marketing efforts are directed toward the right places. If you fork out big money to advertise during footy finals or reality TV singing competitions, millions of viewers will see your ad. But if only a fraction of them need your product, you’ll lose a lot more than you make. Billions of dollars are wasted every year when companies neglect to consider their target demographic. Small businesses simply don’t have that much money to gamble with.A broad strategy that aims to capture the attention of as many people as possible may at first sound like the most effective approach. But the truth is that personalisation pays off.
An Epsilon poll revealed that 80% of respondents were more likely to do business with a company that offered personalised experiences. This article explores the topics of target audiences and marketing strategies: what they are, the different types of target audiences, and how Anchor Digital can help you define your strategy for maximum effectiveness.
What is a Target Audience?
A target audience is the people most likely to be interested in what you offer. Your target audience can be very broad (women, men, young people, retirees etc.), or it can be specific, even niche (elite athletes, millionaires etc.). Target audiences can also be based on location, needs and lifestyle, and the importance of each particular factor can change from campaign to campaign.
Why are they important for your business?
Knowing your target audience allows you to plan your campaigns more precisely. It makes it easier to target marketing strategies in the right direction and avoid wasting money and time. It helps make your business more marketable and also helps convince lenders and investors to help you. By being aware of your target demographic and their wants, you show that you care about their needs. This attentive, personalised and considerate approach is more effective than a one-size-fits-all strategy, which comes off as generic and doesn’t leave a lasting impression.
How to identify your ideal target audience
If you’re new to the world of business, you might not know who your target demographic is yet. A place to start is by looking at your existing customers, even if you only have a handful. You can use surveys or social media interaction to find out about their interests, ages, locations and other demographics. Other ways to research your target audience include market research, Google Analytics and analysing your competitors.
The Different Types of Target Audiences
Some common types of target audiences include
Everyone
The least effective way to market your business is to try to be everything to everyone. A message or campaign that attempts to appeal to all people regardless of age, income, gender etc., usually leads to it appealing to no one in particular. Some big brands like Amazon and Apple are so popular and widely used that it seems like they appeal to pretty much every demographic. Still, even these brands started small: Apple with home and office computers, Amazon as an online book marketplace. If you actually have one of those rare products that can be useful for anyone and everyone, the best strategy is to create multiple campaigns to appeal to different types of target audiences. You can tweak each campaign based on the kind of person you’re trying to reach.
Demographics
Demographics are the shared traits and characteristics of your potential customers. The main ones include age (baby boomers, millennials, Gen Z, retirees, teens, children etc.), education level, gender, occupation and income. Understanding which demographics are most likely to want and need your product helps with many aspects of your campaigns: which social media channels you should use, where you should run your ads (streaming services, radio, billboards?), and what kind of images you should use and more. Using demographic data helps strengthen your marketing strategy and informs where you should focus your budget and your efforts. If your target demographic is young people, for example, you don’t want to waste time running ads in places where a mostly older demographic will see them. Likewise, if one of the selling points of your product is affordability, you won’t want to waste time advertising to wealthy people looking for a new status symbol to display.
Location
As your business expands, you’ll likely want to move beyond your current area and start targeting potential customers in other towns, cities, and even countries. Being mindful of location gives you the chance to modify and tweak your campaigns and content based on factors like cultural differences, seasonal differences, language and timezone (which affects when you should post as well as what).
Subculture
Subcultures are groups of people within society who have similar beliefs, tastes, preferences and purchasing habits. They can be based on music and fashion (punk, Goth), hobbies (gaming, surfing), diets (vegan, paleo) and countless other criteria. Targeting a subculture and filling a gap in the market can be a very powerful way of marketing.
Super cultures
Super cultures are subcultures that share characteristics and have a strong sense of unity that, in some cases, even crosses borders. Many subcultures might also be super cultures. Although the term also describes the camaraderie of a business with employees from around the globe. People who are extremely enthusiastic about any interest, from activism to hobbies such as cosplay, may be part of super cultures.
Needs
Companies generally become popular for creating products that meet people’s needs. However, there are a lot of different needs out there to fulfil. Some customers crave functionality and ease of use they haven’t been able to find in similar products. Some just want the lowest price possible. Some people want a practical product and do several things at once, and others want something that makes them look good. Needs can be emotional, too, like the need to get the most out of life and family time or the need to feel important.
Personality
By taking into account the different ways people think, feel and behave, you can personalise your message to make it more effective. For example, crafting a message directed at a reluctant shopper as opposed to an enthusiastic one. You can assess potential customers based on criteria like the Big Five personality traits, which include qualities like agreeableness and conscientiousness. While questionnaires used to be the only way to build personality profiles of consumers, these days, you can get a pretty good idea from a person’s browsing history and social media interactions – their digital footprint.
Lifestyle
Just like personality characteristics, a person’s lifestyle can often indicate whether or not they’re the right fit for your product. Lifestyle is a diverse area that factors in hobbies and interests as well as attitudes and opinions. It can include everything from the religion a person follows to where they go on holidays - and whether they spend their time seeking adrenaline rushes or just relaxing.
How Anchor Digital Can Help Define Your Target Audience
With all the different types of target audiences out there, it can be difficult to narrow down the best one for your business to focus on. Luckily you don’t have to go through the process alone. Anchor Digital can be your trusted partner. Our strategic, data-driven approach defines the demographic your marketing efforts should be directed towards and targets marketing strategies to grow your business. Drop us a line for an approach to audience targeting that sets you up for success.
