Finding and locating your target audience is your business’s most important task. Many people make this mistake of thinking their target market is just anyone or someone who has money. If you don’t do a thorough research of your target market, none of your social media marketing, ads, content will work.
Great brands understand who their potential customers are, what they do, how they think and where they spend their time. The reason they keep having repeated customers.
When you scroll on social media it is common to notice ad campaigns. And then you ask yourself, who is this ad targeting?
In this guide, I will walk you through every piece of information you need to locate your target audience. So you can spend your money wisely.
What is a target audience?
A target audience is a group of people that are interested and may want to buy your goods and services. That is, a serviceable and addressable market that best aligns with what you are selling.
Example of a target audience: Jane, age 30, Masters degree, income 300 to 600.000frs living in Cameroon passionate about fashion. Follows fashion influencers on social media.
Having a target audience does not mean you can not sell to anyone, rather it helps you optimize your marketing strategy to reach the right people and get more sales.
What is the difference between a target audience/target market and ideal customer personae
People get confused about these marketing terms. We have defined what the target audience is, now let’s take a look at what an ideal customer is all about.
What is an ideal customer persona?
An ideal customer persona is a subset of your target market. It is the description of the perfect customer for your business. Your customer persona is a fictional description of your ideal client.
The foundation of any great business starts with a deep understanding of your ideal customers. It could be a company or an individual.
- In most cases these customers are aware of their problems.
- Beyond having the needs for your services, they often appreciate the services you offer to them.
- They have the means to buy and use your product.
- They pay without complaining
- They refer you and spread positive word of mouth about your business.
Your ideal client excites you, they make you want to serve more clients like them
Example of an ideal customer persona: Mark/Joy 37, entrepreneur, married with 2 kids, income 6 to 7 figures, living in Cameroon, passionate about preaching the word of God, follows business groups on social media.
Target audience is more general while ideal customer is specific and detailed.
Why is it important to identify your target audience?
- When you define your target audience, every piece of content (social media marketing, adverts and sales copy) you create speaks directly to them. Know their pain points, desires, objections and craft stories that address them.
- You don’t waste time shooting in the cloud hoping to catch a star. You focus marketing efforts on the group most likely to buy from you.
- You are going to craft a sales/ads copy that resonates and sell
How to find your target audience in 5 steps
Matching your message, your offer, and your business with your ideal target market or audiences you are trying to reach is the key to your business’s success.
Here are 5 steps to help you identify your target audience.
- Create an ideal customer profile
These are a group of people who share certain characteristics and are most likely going to buy your products/services.
Segment your target market
The purpose of segmenting your market is to deliver a more specific marketing content to a particular target market.
Below are 4 levels of segmentation:
- Conduct a market research
If you already have a customer base, analyze and carry out interviews, distribute surveys through paper, and emails . Read your google analytics, social media insights – who is liking, commenting and sharing your work.
If it is a new business, do an interview. This is a traditional but most effective form of research. Apart from just visualizing your perfect customer, there is someone close to you that you know is your ideal customer, walk up to them and get first hand information.
You can go as far as giving incentives to stimulate greater output.
Remember the foundation and success of your business depends on this information. So do whatever it takes.
Use the different levels of the market segmentation above to formulate your questions like
- How old are you?
- What is your hobby
- What are your frustrations?
- What are your business goals? And many more
Relate this questions to your research objects
- Analyse Competitors
Observe, assess and gather information about your direct competitors. Visit their social media sites. Which platforms do they focus on? Look at what they post and at what time. Who are the people engaging with their content? And what are they saying about their products? Who do they target in their adverts?
All these and more will give an idea of who your target audience is.
- Define who your target market isn’t
Another great way to find your target audience is to map out who isn’t. I know sometimes we get lured towards those audiences who are close to our target marketing. But the truth is they rarely take action. So focus on reaching your ideal customer.
- Continuous Revision
Getting information about your target market is not a day job. You need to keep updating. Monitor, get more data and communicate with your customers to achieve the best results.
How to create content for your target audience?
Now that you know how and why you should research your target audience. Let’s create content that attracts and keeps them. You would agree with me there is plenty of content out there. You just need to type in a word in search engines and a bulk of information comes out. This means your content should be as specific as possible to your target market.
To ease your work, create a list of pain points/frustrations and desires of your target audience. And build a content pillar around it.
A content pillar is a category or an informative piece of content that surrounds your overall brand or line of business.
I will advise you to choose 2 or 3 topics. That way you stay focused and get people to know you for that one thing. And also choosing topics that directly relate to the product or service you offer, so you can incorporate your promotions in between. Talk about the pain point, and show your product/service as a solution.
Conclusion
Being able to find and define your target market is already a major step but it doesn’t end there.
Start creating SEO friendly content using industry keywords. Engage and build a community.
Note this, your work is never done. As your audience, business and skills grow, you need to keep updating your target market.
Have you figured out your target audience?
