Saying “I want to start a business” is the easy part. Actually building a business that makes money, and more importantly, continues to do so into the future, is where most entrepreneurs stumble. Understanding your target audience can solve a bunch of basic problems your business may be facing. The importance of knowing your target audience can help you build a better brand and even create returning customers.
When you don’t understand your target audience, you may be at risk of losing potential customers. We all wish that our “target audience” can be everyone and anyone, but that’s rarely the case. When you stray away from your specific target audience, it can cause backlash in those once reliable customers. Knowing your target audience is all about marketing correctly and efficiently to your potential buyers.
Improving Marketing Ability
Owning a business today means addressing a new competitive landscape, one in which customers are more customized and just as likely to be male, female or somewhere in between; more urban or rural; more educated or less educated; older, younger or in transition from one to the other; from any one of thousands of ethnicities, races and religious preferences.
Identifying a target audience is the first step in creating a successful marketing plan. Audience identification helps companies understand who their customers are and why those customers need their goods or services. Selling to everyone is a missed opportunity because it’s impossible to satisfy the needs of all potential customers.
How to Find Your Target Audience
Determining your target audience is a critical and often overlooked element for crafting a marketing campaign. However, perhaps the most instructive way to determine your target audience is by identifying that need you’re trying to fulfill. Let’s say you are a real estate agent looking to sell homes. A product like this is important to everyone who is looking for a home, but your audience does not include everyone… unless you’re selling houses to 12 year olds (we don’t judge). Byunderstanding who your audience includes, you can better tailor copy, who it reaches, and why they should act upon it.
Here are a few key points to help you understand the importance of knowing your target audience.
MARKET RESEARCH
You can’t sell something to someone if they don’t know what it is! That’s why gathering data on your ideal customer is essential when finding your target audience. It will also help you determine the gaps in your industry that your product or service can fill. Learning this information will help to create more compelling campaigns and deliver to those actually interested in what you have to offer.
KNOW YOUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS
The internet is an important resource for most consumers, who use search engines like Google to find products and services. Google Analytics offers extensive information on the users that visit your site. You can take advantage of this data to determine what channels your audience is coming from and the type of content they’re engaging with the most. Learning this can help with data-driven decisions in your content, optimize your website, and gain more visibility online.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS YOUR FRIEND
Unless you’ve been under a rock, social media is the top way to be seen online. Social media analytics will help you identify your audience, what they like and what impact your content has on their purchasing decisions.
Social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram will filter these analytics by age, gender, and other factors. This can also help you in creating multiple campaigns for specific audiences once you know what works best. They will also help you optimize the creation of engaging content that satisfies current customer needs and simultaneously attracts new consumers to your brand.
LOOK INTO YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMER BASE
Who is physically walking into your store? Who is calling you looking for business? Your current customer base is just as important and expanding your target audience. There’s no better way to define your target audience than seeing exactly who is already buying from you. Studying the people who have shown an interest in your product or service and made a purchase will reveal all kinds of details that can be used to further attract them. Keep an eye out for their interactions with your brand on social media, or distribute customer surveys through your site to learn more about them.
WE’RE YOUR BIGGEST FANS
Understanding the importance of knowing your target audience is kind of our jam. From social media content, to Google ads, SEO, and more – we’re here to be your right-hand man. That’s why Three Ring Focus is here to help you craft your next high-quality website, marketing, or SEO strategy. Check out of some the work we’ve done for a little sneak peak. Don’t miss out on the benefits of having an expertly-crafted site. Contact us today for more information about our services!