How To Find Your Brand’s Target Audience

There is nothing worse than trying to market your brand to the wrong people. Not only is it a waste of company time and resources, but also a waste of money that could have led to better results if successfully targeted.

A target audience refers to the consumers that your brand should be directing their marketing efforts. These users typically have a variety of factors in common, including age, education, location interests, goals, and problems. In other words – a group of people that would be interested in purchasing your products and services.

Without an effective target audience, brands can end up boosting brand awareness among users that are not interested in your products or services. While this might improve website traffic, it will not lead to the sales or conversions that your company needs to expand and grow.

Choosing your target audience correctly will open up a world of possibilities, and more importantly, drive revenue. Brands can define their target audience by answering the following questions.

Who are they?

 

The best way to identify your target audience is by going straight to the source. This means considering the users who already know your brand or have purchased products and services in the past.

Start by monitoring your brand’s social media accounts. Pay special attention to the users that regularly like, share, comment, or engage with your posts or page. Users that are willing to interact with a brand have most likely purchased their products or services, or plan to purchase them in the near future.

It is also important to take it one step further and observe active customers. These consumers might not be overly active on social media, but they are a large role in defining your ideal audience. This will not only help you keep the customers you already have, but gain similar users and consumers that will be interested in what your brand has to offer them.

Where do they find information?

Before any purchase, big or small, users need to find valuable and relevant information. This refers to information about which company to buy from and which products or services to chose from.

The key is identifying the channels your target audience uses to find information. Once you have identified the appropriate channels, you can determine the specific types of content and language needed to reach your audience through these platforms.

For example, if your target audience is small business owners or entrepreneurs, you would most likely focus your marketing efforts on LinkedIn and Facebook because they are more likely to spend their time on these professional networking websites.

It is also important to consider who your target audience trusts for information. Would they trust the opinion of an influencer or previous consumer more?

If influencer is your answer to our question, then your target audience might be 10-25 years old from a mid-to-upper income family. They are less interested in the benefits provided by the product or service and more interested in being part of a current trend.

If you chose a previous consumer, then your target audience might be middle-aged and middle-class. They rely on the reputation of your brand to decide whether or not they should purchase your products or services. That means you need to maintain strong relationships with customers and encourage them to post positive reviews and comments.

What do your products or services have to offer them?

Many users that share certain demographic characteristics have similar problems and desires. These difficulties can be identified through research, previous experiences, and consumer behavior.

Not only do these users have similar problems and desires, but they also have a similar need for a solution to solve those problems or make their lives easier. That is where your brand, products, and services come in.

Brands can determine the problems and desires of their target audience by considering the benefits provided by their brands and services. The value of your brand will give you much needed insights into your ideal audience.

If you own a mortgage company, the purpose of your services is simple: provide personalized home lender solutions. This shows you that your target audience desires to be a home-owner. By researching and considering this desire, you can determine that your target audience is over the age of 30, mid-to-upper income, married, prefers stability, and has children or wants children.

What do they not want?

When it comes to defining your target audience, be sure to think about the positives and negatives. This means considering what your audience does not want.

Thinking about the negatives helps brands determine the products, services, or content that an ideal user will avoid. Knowing what the user will avoid is the first step in knowing what your brand should avoid. This will help you create content that will captivate and interest potential consumers.

If you would like more information about how to find your brand’s target audience, need help developing your digital marketing efforts, or other digital marketing services please contact Pink Dog Digital at (410) 696-3305, email us at info@pinkdogdigital.com, or visit us on the web at www.pinkdogdigital.com.