You know what a target audience is right? They are the people you are going to sell your product or service to, but how do you know who they are? When I first start looking at target audiences with my clients they often answer the question ‘who is your target audience’ with a very broad answer….perhaps ‘well anyone really’ or maybe ‘people with skin’. Unfortunately, unless you have unlimited funds, you cannot market to everyone, so as much as your product COULD be used by anyone, or your service COULD benefit everyone you really do need to narrow your market down.
If your business is already up and running the best way to know who you should be marketing to is to look at what type of people are already buying from you – there is really no point in trying to remake the wheel, so if your business is popular with working Mums, then you might as well try and sell more to those type of people.
When looking at who is buying from you, bear in mind
• Who buys regularly (not just one off)
• Who buys higher value products
• Who recommends you to others
• Who you enjoy working for
If you have not yet sold a product or service to anyone then you can assess possible target audience in several ways
• Set up social media channels and then check the metrics to see what sort of people are engaging with your content
• Check out your competitors – take a look at their social media, website, branding, literature – you can understand a lot about their target audience from what they say and how they present themselves
• Think about the price point you have decided on as this will effect your target audience
• Carry out some consumer research – you could do this via social media, or set up a survey on something like Survey Monkey
It is a good idea to reassess your target audience annually to ensure that it still meets your business plan.