How to determine your target audience.
In the early stages of your business plan, you’ll want to carefully consider who you’re taking to. To accurately determine your target audience, you can use a range of tools and tactics. , you can use a range of tools and tactics.
Here are some ideas:
Social media analytics and insights can do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to identifying data. Use tools to uncover metrics like audience demographics so you can better understand who is following and engaging with your social channels.
Not only can these tools help you discover your audience, they can also ensure you’re resonating with your target demographic too.
2. Research industry trends.
By researching trends in your market and industry, you can get a sense of newly emerging customer segments or any pivots in customer behaviours. This may help you narrow down your target audience or keep up with them as they change.
3. Conduct competitor and market analysis.
Competitor and market analysis is when you examine data from competitors – usually monitoring trends (and gaps) to help you identify your own target audience.
Not only can you compare your own product or prices against a competitor (maybe you’re positioning yourself as a more luxurious or high-quality company in comparison), but you can also get a sense of things like demographics for existing products.
This lets you make an informed decision from the start in everything you do – from branding to pricing and messaging.
Learn about your existing customers by analysing your own website analytics or campaign performance. Did your messaging resonate? Who shared it? What was the demographic of people who clicked through? This can ensure your messaging is on brand. And if not, you can use the data to make changes to ensure you’re not missing any customers with similar traits to your existing ones.
5. Create a buyer persona.
Creating a buyer persona can be a great way to define and visualise your target audience.
Buyer personas are data-informed, fictional representations of your ideal customer. These personas include buying behaviours, interests and motivations. They’re almost like characters based on your previous research.
These personas don’t need to encompass one type of person – you may have several which serve as a segment of your primary target audience.
For example, let’s say your target demographic for a product is homeowners – you may further segment that market based on your research.
- You might find that a demographic prefers items such as integrated bars or interactive kitchen islands as they like to be social in their homes – so you could call these people event hosters.
- A different subsection may prefer products that add an air of luxury to their house – these could be prideful decorators.
- Then you have the people looking for products that help them set roots with their families – these could be family homemakers.
All are homeowners, but each have their own distinct buying habits and behaviours. You may find that you have a preference for one of those segments – but don’t necessarily want to miss out on the others.
Likewise, renters may be a category you’re not interested in as your products are focused around building a home. In that case, you may not direct your messaging towards them, but you don’t necessarily want to dissuade them.
