You probably came to my site because you’re looking for a solution. You want to know how to define a target audience for your brand. Is that correct?
Maybe you’ve been running your own business for over a year, but you haven’t defined your target audience yet because you’re worried about losing customers when you narrow down your target audience.
You may also struggle with writing blog articles because you don’t know who exactly you’re writing to. Without a target audience in mind, you may just stare at a blank screen. You might get stuck when you try to create ads for Facebook or Instagram because you don’t have a target audience in mind so instead, you produce ads for a broader audience. After all of your efforts and money invested, the end result is disappointing with only a few clicks and poor leads.
What went wrong?
You may be attracting the wrong audience since your brand identity wasn’t created with a specific audience in mind. This is a frustrating situation.
You may wonder how I’m so familiar with this scenario? That is exactly what I went through when I first started my business and I’m sure that many small business owners are experiencing similar problems.
When I started, I didn’t know who my target audience was. I offered my services to anyone who was interested because I didn’t want to lose any business opportunities. As a result, instead of standing out from the crowd, my business blended in with the crowd.
Then I tried to narrow it down, but I chose the wrong target audience that either had no need for my services or they didn’t see the value in the services I offered. So, it’s very important to identify and choose the right audience.
In today’s blog article, I am going to write about how to define a target audience so you can build a brand that truly connects with your audience.
What is a target audience?
Your target audience is a specific group of people who are interested in your product or service. Simply put, they are your potential customers.
A target audience can be defined by age, gender, status, location, interests, values, etc. or by asking yourself:
How old are they?
Where do they live?
What are their interests?
What problems do they have?
What are their values?
Instead of sending generic messages to everyone or creating a brand identity that just looks pretty, defining a target audience allows for a more personal approach to reaching people who are interested in your products and services.
How to define your target audience?
When defining your target audience, you need to focus exactly on who you are trying to reach. Remember, if you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one. Identifying a target audience is one of the most important steps you can take to grow your business. Without knowing your target audience you can’t realistically expect your business venture to survive.
Here are 3 simple steps to help you define your target audience. Are you ready?
STEP 1: SEGMENTATION
Segmentation is the process of categorizing your audience into smaller groups based on 4 segment characteristics. This process allows you to group your individual audience members into similar groups so you can better target your product or service offerings to the people who really need them.
You can categorize your target market into 4 segments:
DEMOGRAPHIC: age, gender, occupation, status, income, education
GEOGRAPHIC: region, city, country, culture, weather, economy
PSYCHOGRAPHIC: lifestyle, personality traits, hobbies, values
BEHAVIOR: date, time, number of purchases, occasions, habits
For example:
Kate is a nutritionist and healthy cooking instructor. She is going to offer virtual cooking classes for her business.
She starts identifying her target audience by picturing the kind of person who she thinks will benefit most from her service.
DEMOGRAPHIC:
Age: 45-48 years old
Gender: woman
Occupation: Interior designer
Status: married, one child
GEOGRAPHIC:
Region: Suburb, New York
PSYCHOGRAPHIC:
Lifestyle: simple and healthy lifestyle
Personal traits: quiet, stylish, natural
Hobbies: gardening, cooking, interior decoration
Values: high quality, simplicity, health
BEHAVIOR:
Time: cooks every day
Habits: rarely orders takeout food
Kate thinks men, millenniums, seniors, and singles are not the right people to target for her services.
STEP 2: TARGETING
Targeting is the process of selecting the people who most desire your product or service. This process further narrows down the segment that you created in the first step.
You are now going to refine the group of people that you are offering your products or services to.
For example:
Kate chose a specific group of people from the first step.
She decided that the subgroup she can best serve are female cancer patients.
Why did Kate choose female cancer patients as her target audience?
Kate had breast cancer several years ago. She remembers the pain, fear, and isolation she felt at that time. Her appetite decreased and her sense of taste changed during her cancer treatment, but she recovered quickly thanks to the support of her family and eating healthy foods.
Now, she wants to help female cancer patients who are going through a similar experience. During her own cancer treatment, she created unique recipes with vegetables. She plans to share all of her recipes with her students.
STEP 3: POSITIONING
Now that you are clear on your target audience and understand their needs, you can provide solutions to their problems.
The last step is to ensure that your target audience can find you. Your audience needs to understand the value you offer as well as how you are different from your competitors.
Positioning is how you want to be perceived in your customer’s minds. In order to create this position, you need to be clear on how you are different from your competitors based on an understanding of what your target customers want.
For example:
Kate made a list of her ideal target audiences’ problems and wishes.
The cancer patient is a working mom who doesn’t have enough time to cook.
The cancer patient has to prepare meals for both herself and her family, leaving her feeling overwhelmed.
The cancer patient is dealing with changes in her sense of taste and smell from her treatment.
The cancer patient wants to cook meals that are easy and healthy to save time.
The cancer patient wants to meet people who are going through similar experiences and build relationships with them.
The cancer patient is interested in taking cooking classes but most of the cooking classes are not specifically created for women cancer patients.
Kate also researched her competitors and found an area where she won’t overlap with her competitors.
She focuses on teaching simple and easy healthy meals using natural and organic food.
Once you define who you are going to help, it will be much easier to write a message and create a brand identity that attracts your target audience.
Conclusion
To define a target audience, you need to make a decision exactly who you are going to help instead of selecting a type of group. You will save time and money by targeting your message to a clearly defined target audience rather than reaching out to a broader audience.
I hope this article helps you to define your target audience and helps you to truly connect with them. Eventually, they will become your potential customers.
