How to define your business’s target audience in 5 steps

One of the main aspects that defines a company’s strategies is the audience to which it will sell its products and services and with whom it will communicate. It is through an analysis of these profiles that decisions are made and only by dealing appropriately with these people is it possible to achieve the expected results. But how to define the target audience ?

Not knowing who you are communicating with is the same as talking to the walls, that is, even if there are investments, it will not have results.

What is target audience?

To understand how to define and impact this group, you must first understand what it means. Previously, consumers were treated as a single group, led to buy from a certain store or consume a certain product due to influence, advertising or necessity.

However, as advertising strategies and means of communication evolved, it was noted that within this main group it was possible to separate potential customers into other categories, according to their interests: men and women; young people, adults and elderly people; married and single, etc.

Today, this concept takes on even more specific contours, which are essential for operating in the digital environment, as the algorithm is based on people’s tastes, searches and profile to deliver content.

Therefore, a target audience is considered a group of people with common interests and who can be considered potential customers for companies.

There are many ways to segment this audience to have a more focused performance, and this depends on the company’s profile. A jewelry store will probably look for people with better purchasing power, while a company that sells drinks may be interested in the behavioral profile of certain cities or focus on searching for resellers.

It is also possible for a company to have different audiences, and work on the brand in different ways to attract each one.

How to define the target audience?

In some segments it is easier to understand who this audience is, but the best way to define this is through concrete data. See how to get to know your customer in five steps:

1- Be based on data

Use available information to have more accurate numbers and data. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Trends are free and can contribute to this research. Furthermore, consult sector associations, the IBGE and other bodies related to the segment in question to have a more specific view of this audience and how it behaves.

2- Evaluate competitors

How and to whom do your competitors communicate? What type of audience do they attract? Doing this analysis allows you to better understand how your sector is positioned and, even more so, allows you to understand what they do not offer.

This way, it is easier to find your market niche to serve audiences that may not be on the radar or are not relevant to your competitors.

3- Know your business

Understanding the company goes beyond knowing the technical specifications of a product, and includes identifying the mission and values. This allows you to answer questions such as:

• What are the benefits of my solution?
• Who does this matter to?
• How does this help people?

By identifying the answers to these questions, the target audience begins to emerge.

4- Do research

It is very common that, before launching a product, companies carry out research with focus groups to identify how each person reacts to the launch. With social networks, reaching people and knowing their opinion, tastes and desires is even easier and more practical.

Surveys can be carried out online through forms or interviews, or sent after using a service or completing a purchase, and also checking common criticisms and complaints from customers and competitors.

5- Define the main segments and carry out tests

By following the processes above, it will be easier to identify which audiences you want to reach. But this does not mean that all issues are resolved. Therefore, after defining the audience, it is necessary to carry out tests to see if, in practice, they are impacted by the business.

When generating a boost campaign on Instagram , for example, use the same advertising piece for three different segments, and see which one has the most engagement. To do this, you need to make a main definition and create personas.

Target audience and persona

The term “persona” is widely used in marketing because it brings these audiences to life, transforming them into people to speak to directly. This persona becomes the segment (or segments) that you want to reach, and facilitates the creation of marketing and sales strategies and even the definition of the company’s branding .

To understand better, see the example below:

Target Audience:

Women between 30 and 45 years old who work and are independent, have a higher education degree, earn between R$5,000.00 and R$7,000.00 and travel by car in large cities.

This data helps you find these people and make specific car offers. The persona can be considered an additional level.

Persona:

Ali, 35 years old, works at an advertising agency in the West Zone of Khi. He is creative and ambitious, and is looking for a promotion within the company. She spends her day at the office or visiting clients around town, and needs an efficient and comfortable car.

By creating this persona, the company gives its customer a face and a profile, and understands more specific ways of talking to them, understanding their pain points and indicating the solution.

In addition to knowing how to define the target audience , the company needs to understand that this audience can change, as well as their behaviors. We are, after all, talking about people and the idea is to provide an individualized experience to gain their loyalty.