Defining Your Target Audience in 2023
Christianna Hurt
Owner Of Wealthycollegekid Ecommerce Education Platform and Cellyce a SAAS company .
If you’ve heard the phrase before you may have asked yourself, what is a target market? Your target market is not a complicated thing, but it’s important to know who yours is! There are all types of target market groups, but knowing the details of who is in yours can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the success of your marketing efforts.
Your target market underpins everything your business does, from the product you create to the marketing campaigns you build. You can’t sell to anyone and everyone. Limiting the audience you target actually improves your total number of sales, because the marketing messages you’re delivering are highly relevant.
The basics of evaluating your target market are straightforward and whether you are selling a product, running a blog, or offering a professional service – it’s important to know who you are trying to reach with your marketing.
So let's start with the basics...
What is a target market?
A target market is the specific group of people most likely to buy your products or services.?They’re the people you should be laser focused on attracting—the type of people who return again, recommend you to their friends, and rave about you on social media.?
Why is knowing this important?
Knowing who your target market is is extremely important because it guides the direction of all your marketing efforts. It also often guides details of how you set up and administer your business from the ground up!
How to define your target market ?
So let’s get down to the application for your business… who is YOUR target market? You might know right away or you may have to think about it for some time. Every business is different and for some it is far more clear than for others.
For some businesses their target market is one specific group of people. For some it is a couple different groups that are connected by a common thread. If you feel like you have two very different groups of people that you want to try to sell your product, service, or knowledge to don’t get discouraged. You may be able to find a common thread that binds them together where it still makes sense to target both groups – or you may find that it’s going to pull your business in too many different directions to target both groups and to move forward well you will need to stick to one. If you’re torn between two very different target market groups it helps to try to think ahead a little bit to how you would market to them both. If the modes of marketing to them both are too different it may not make sense to try to keep both as targeted audiences.
Researching multiple target markets doesn’t have to be complex if you’re just starting out, but it helps to have a minimum viable target market—the bare minimum you?need?to know about your ideal customer before diving in. The more you can narrow down the specific details about your target market the better it will serve you as you develop a marketing strategy and plan, but at the least weencourage you to think through the below attributes of who you are trying to sell to:
You can define these on your own or the alternative is to use strategy to answer questions that will lead you to the your true target market. Look for the answers to the following questions:
How to find answers
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Survey existing customers
The people already purchasing from your brand are your greatest resource. Look at the existing data in your e-commerce back end. Customers will share their postal address for shipping purposes. Assemble that data in one spreadsheet to find your most popular locations.?You could also add a date of birth field to your post-purchase account creation page. Give customers a free gift or discount code on their birthday in exchange for age-related information for your target market research.?Collect more data on autopilot by adding a customer survey in your purchase confirmation emails. Keep the survey short and sweet to encourage new customers to share their feedback. Ask a mixture of demographic and psychographic questions like:
Watch Your Competition
In a crowded marketplace, knowing your competitors’ target markets can help you narrow your focus, especially if the products you’re selling are largely the same. Make a list of competitors in your niche market. Find them by asking this question in your customer feedback surveys: Did you consider any other products before deciding to purchase ours? If so, who were they and what made you choose us??You can also search the brands social media to see which influencers each brand partners with. Investigate customer reviews sometimes people will explain why they purchased from the competitor or what they needed the product for.
Use Your Platform or Sales Channel
Ecommerce brands have different target audiences across the platforms and sales channels they sell on. A store?selling home decor for example, will have different target markets for:
People buying through the brand’s online store will be different from those visiting its Miami brick-and-mortar store. Location is the most obvious difference: selling online opens you up to reach potential customers all over the world.?
Similarly, the platforms you’re marketing your business through have varying target markets. Those who discover products through Instagram likely follow one of the many influencers using the platform to make a living. The target market for Pinterest users, however, may prioritize handmade goods over mass manufactured ones.?You can define these markets by looking at who regularly uses these platforms. You could even host a giveaway where followers win something—like a free product—in exchange for information about your target market on that channel. “Comment below why you’d like to win” is a simple conversation starter to get your followers talking.
How to reach your target
You don’t run marketing campaigns to reach your target market. That would be too broad. Segmenting your market to identify target audiences for individual campaigns is what helps you take action on your research.?Break your target market down into smaller segments to create target audiences - a smaller subset of your target market who your marketing efforts are tailored to. Within those are buyer personas: fictional representatives for one target audience within your target market. You can do this using the above (age, gender, etc.).
You can even utilize demographic target market segmentation. Which is the process of creating personas of people with shared characteristics, such as: age, religion, ethnicity, income level, etc. Map out the percentage split between each demographic market segment and map your marketing budget accordingly. Similarly, use the demographic information about each segment to personalize the marketing messages and products you’re promoting. Another way is to utilize geographical segmentation by using your targets climate, currency and language spoken. Segmenting your target market by geographical data helps you personalize the shopping experience. Lastly you can use psychographic segmentation. Meaning dividing your target market into smaller groups based on psychological traits they share, such as: opinions, values, and interests. Use this to adjust your messaging. Copywriting is tailored to its target audience. Reflect each segment’s opinions, values, and interests in the copy you put in front of them.
The target market you’ve defined for your business isn’t futureproof. Products develop, consumer buying trends change—both of which impact the type of person most likely to purchase your products.?
Know who to reach and how
Your target market is the lifeline of your business. They’re the type of people who will put money into your bank account, become loyal customers, and refer you to their friends. But to show them you exist and convince them to make their first purchase, you need to know who they are.
If you know WHO you are trying to sell to or reach with your business you will be far more equipped to develop a plan for HOW to reach them!