The entire marketing plan is based on an essential element called the “target audience”, which major companies are interested in and allocate huge sections for its study, and business is based on it in a way that may contribute to its development or downfall, so what is this element? How do you know the characteristics of your target audience in the market? This is what we will discover in the coming lines.
What is the target audience? And what is its importance?
The target audience is the segment on which your business is based and your marketing campaigns as a whole focus on, and in it the business owner takes advantage of this audience’s psychological readiness and ability to purchase, to persuade them to respond to the services provided.
The size and type of this audience varies according to the activity it is directed at. The entire activity can be focused on a very small and specialized segment, such as those interested in buying Rolls-Royces or Lamborghinis. And it can include wide segments such as marketing for the purchase of smart phones.
The importance of defining the audience lies in the marketing process as it is the cornerstone upon which the rest of the steps are based. Without it, it is not possible to determine which products are best for display, and without it the marketing campaign proceeds in a closed circle of randomness and confusion. The process of identifying the target audience contributes to:
1. Reduce expenses
When you define your target audience accurately, you avoid spending exorbitant money on segments that will not deal with you or want to buy from you. If your entire business depends on audience segment C, there is no need to expand your ad campaign to include segments A or segment B. Instead of spending your money on three segments, and reaching just 33% of your target segment, when you focus on just one segment, you will be able to, To reach 100% of them with the same expenses and in a more effective and impactful way.
2. Keeping the audience at a manageable level
You stand alone in the center of the circle, while you are surrounded by dozens of people speaking simultaneously. Do you understand any of them?
The same can be applied when dealing with a random, heterogeneous audience, you will not be able to deal with their periodically renewed requirements, and you will not be able to understand what types of services they really want. As for when you focus on a specific segment and work on studying it carefully, this will not only help you understand customers and their nature, but also help you keep this audience at a level that can be managed and dealt with.
You can make the audience get used to buying luxury products because of the persuasive marketing messages that you provide them with. You can convince him to buy now lest he run out of offers. You can even convince him to buy products he might not need in the first place just because an influencer points it out. Whatever the message, the whole matter is subject to the element of focus, and this will not come by dealing with a random audience.
3. Accurately prioritize
Audience identification helps organize and schedule priorities. If the results of marketing research related to the audience that the residents of the area (X) and (Y) are more likely to buy your products. But the area (Y) exceeds the area (X) by 20%, so the priority in the advertising process will go, of course, to the area (Y). The same applies if the advertiser feels distracted in determining the segment he wants to target, then audience research will intervene to help reach an accurate result that determines which segments are the most priority? Which one is more likely to respond to the targeted advertising message?
4. Careful planning
Determining your target audience is the first step in building a successful marketing plan , as there is no step that can be taken without going through the stage of defining the target audience first. The design of the website will fail if it is not designed in a way that serves the preferences of the target customers. The content also will not affect consumers if it is not written in a way that serves their aspirations and purchasing aspirations. The same applies to marketing steps and platforms that are used to advertise the product. If your audience is teenagers, and you resort to e-mail messages in the advertising process, then you are wasting your money on advertising that is not related to your real audience and will not reach it in the first place.
From here it is possible to understand the role of the target audience in the marketing plan, why major companies pay so much attention to it, and why the market is filled with multiple researches about it? It is the main component on which the rest of the marketing steps are based , and it is the basic link between each element, and a measure that cannot be overlooked for the success or failure of plans.
How to determine the target audience in the market?
As we explained in the previous lines, the process of identifying the target audience is a very important process, and many important steps follow. Therefore, before starting any commercial or marketing activity, please follow the following steps:
1. Know the segment you want to target the audience against
There are many factors that form the target audience segment, so the audience can be defined according to:
- Demographic division: Here, the determination is made according to gender, age, religion, social level, family size, or even the geographical area to which it belongs.
- Psychological segmentation : Here, the audience is defined according to the nature of its marketing activities, in addition to its psychological preferences and interests, along with its personal opinions and the platforms it prefers to follow.
- Segmentation according to the nature of consumption: Here, your audience can be determined according to the rate of consumption of the service or product that you are promoting. You can define the audience who is completely dependent on this product, who uses it occasionally, or the average consumption. You can also define the audience according to the type of products they consume, as there are those who prefer to buy luxury products, and there are those who are looking for medium quality, and there are those who prefer to buy products that fit their weak budget.
- Segmentation according to preferred brand: If your business revolves around providing products of well-known brands, it is best when making advertising campaigns for products to focus on those who are emotionally associated with the brands. If your new collection is all about NIKE products, focus your advertisement on the segment interested in Nike production lines. If your products revolve around Gucci products, it is best to devote advertising to fans of this brand only.
With your knowledge of the bases on which the target audience varies, you can now determine which factors you want to search for, and which segments to target?
2. Keep up with the latest developments in audience research and analysis
Market research should be your constant companion if you want to own a successful business. It is your guide to understanding the market and knowing what customers are really looking for, and which means are the most appropriate to address them? Without marketing research, it looks like you’re crossing the road blindfolded. Without it, there is no link between you and the audience, so that you will not be able to understand its requirements, and it will not be able to understand your product that you are trying to promote to it.
If your business revolves around attracting men interested in new iPhones, then you must know the material level of the target audience, the language they respond to easily, the features they liked in this product, the frustrations they experienced, the age group they belong to, and other characteristics. Which will undoubtedly help you craft a compelling and effective marketing message.
You can resort to these researches either by searching in the international studies published in the scientific researcher of the Google search engine, or you can download the analytical studies published by famous platforms such as:
These sites will help you take a closer look at the audience of social platforms, and will provide you with accurate numbers and statistics that will undoubtedly serve your business.
3. Watch your competition
Competitors’ websites are an easy way to find out who you want to target and what their buying preferences are. When you visit the competitor’s platform, you will be able to find out which products are his best sellers, and thus know the taste of the purchasing audience. It will also enable you to read customer reviews and opinions, which helps you to know the frustrations your audience doesn’t want to go through. You will also take note of how this audience interacts with the offers and discounts offered by the competitor, and which methods are most appropriate with them? And which methods did not make an impact with them?
4. Know the exact features of your product or service and who will need them
Focusing on the characteristics of the service that you provide will help you a lot in reaching a more accurate segment of your target audience. If your product, for example, is characterized by its high price, then this point will help you determine the social level that you want to target. If your product is heavy or monochromatic, women will not be part of your target audience. If your product is characterized by its satirical or humorous nature, the elderly will undoubtedly not be one of the target groups. All these examples of one feature of the product, so what is the result if we analyze each individual feature, and we collect the results in the end to reach an accurate description of the audience we want to attract?
5. Test your product on a smaller segment of your target audience
After applying the previous steps and collecting the information you have collected, you can resort to experiment as a way to test the validity of the steps you have taken or not?
You can formulate content that suits the segment that you came up with, then publish it and wait for the audience to interact with it.. If the experience proves the effectiveness of your target segment, you can generalize it in your marketing plan as a whole, if the content does not receive the expected interaction, you can study the factors that caused this to happen, and then do Process it and test it again. If it fails, then you can change the target segment and repeat the steps more accurately and with a more scrutiny look than before.
If you adhere to these steps, you will be able to define your target audience with high accuracy, and thus you will be able to lay a strong foundation upon which the rest of your marketing activities will be based. Yes.. the process seems difficult, it has some boredom – or a lot of it in reality – but it is important steps to reach your ultimate goal: achieving sales and raising awareness of your brand.
Do you know other ways to identify the target audience in a market? Share it with us in the comments