Before you launch your next campaign, ask yourself this: Who are you really trying to reach and get the attention of? 

Your target audience is the group of people most likely to buy from you. 

Paying attention to your target audience changes everything. 

Helping you spend smarter, connect with your desired customers and market more strategically. 

These types of people have shared characteristics, dictated by age, gender, income, location and interests. 

Even with these demographic insights in hand, successfully marketing to your specific target audience requires a deep understanding of what they care about, what drives their decisions and how they interact with brands daily. 

Target Audience Types

A key step involved in effective audience targeting is classifying customers into market segments. 

No customer is the same. 

And neither are target audiences. 

That is why breaking your target market down into specific groups based on purchase intention, demographics,  interest, and subcultures is essential.

Demographic

Demographic segmentation covers everything from age and gender to income, occupation and even marital status.

It could be a large market or a niche market.

Purchase Intention

Purchase intention is the likelihood of a customer buying your product or service within a certain period of time. 

Individuals with a purchase intention have an idea of the product or service they want to buy, but are still in the process of gathering more information before making the final decision. 

Think of it like, “I’m interested, but I have my options and still need time to think”. 

Even at the stage of hovering over the checkout button, they may not feel they have evaluated a product or service and are committed enough to buy. 

Potential customers will conduct their own market research to ensure the decision feels right to them - and avoid buyer’s remorse. 

We have all been there!

Understanding your audience’s purchase intention will allow you to create campaigns and content that target their buying pain points, connect with their purchasing needs, and provide them with just the right information needed for them to hit ‘Buy Now’.

Interests 

Knowing your target audience’s interests will allow you to connect with them in a way that you know excites them by making targeted, personalised content. 

In today's digital world, it can be challenging to pinpoint exactly what captures your customers' interests. 

Specifically, where you can't see potential customers' faces, expressions or reactions. 

Imagine having the tools and expertise to truly understand existing and potential customers' level of interest. 

Imagine knowing how to speak their language and turning them into a loyal customer. 

Well, with digital marketing, you can.

By utilising data-driven strategies and leveraging tools such as customer journey mapping, behavioural analytics, CRM systems, and marketing automation platforms,  you can gain a deeper understanding of what drives your audiences to convert.

The right digital marketing agency will be your translator, crafting strategic messages on marketing channels that inspire engagement and loyalty, and leveraging key insights from campaign performance. 

You will then target people with personal interests that match the tone of your product or service!

Subcultures

Customers can also be grouped by subcultures, having a strong word-of-mouth influence and are united by things like music taste, fashion, TV shows or sports. 

Types of target audiences could be festival goers, fans of the same rugby team or loyal consumers of an iconic brand. 

Once you understand your audience and how to approach them, the next challenge is knowing how to communicate effectively. 

Especially when dealing with multiple target audiences. 

How Knowing Your Customers Drives Smarter Business Decisions

By understanding what a target audience is, tailoring your marketing strategy and ensuring marketing efforts resonate with consumers, your business can improve customer acquisition, enhance customer satisfaction, promote brand loyalty and develop a winning brand identity.

Score! 

But before you can enjoy those results, getting there takes the right tools, customer data, strategy and insights. 

And that's not always straightforward. 

Who Are Your People? A Guide to Target Audience Discovery

Know Who You’re Talking To

To accurately discover your target audience, start by digging into data! 

Even with a clear picture of your target audience, executing a strategic and cohesive marketing plan often requires expert support. 

Look at your current customers. 

What age are they, where do they live, what hobbies and interests do they have, what do they do for work? 

Discovering your target audience does not need to be guesswork. 

An important part of understanding your target audience is gathering feedback from existing customers or conducting surveys. 

Utilise your existing customer base by asking them questions to segment your audience further and target similar groups.

Research Your Market and Industry Trends

On top of customer feedback, the second step is discovering what is currently trending in your industry and conducting further market research. 

Look at who your competitors are targeting and how. 

What channels are they using, and what content and strategies are they coming up with? 

Using this demographic information, you can identify a marketing strategy that speaks to them. 

A great place to start is browsing their top social media platforms, how they have advertised their product or service to their target audience and recent marketing campaigns. 

Then be inspired to create your own. 

Create Buyer Personas

Using the type of information gathered from researching and looking at competitors, create buyer personas to drill down into specific segments. 

The more specific you are, the better the results will be.

Ask yourself - is your demographic women, or women between the ages of 40 and 50?

Are these women family-focused, working professionals or exploring travel and lifestyle options?

Which group will relate to your product or service the most?

These are just some target audience examples that illustrate how specific your persona should be.

Of course, we understand that you most likely have multiple target audiences and will need multiple buyer personas. 

The key is to know exactly who they are.

Knowing exactly who YOUR people are allows you to always stay one step ahead, predicting the trends this specific audience loves to see and, most importantly, how to deliver them. 

When you develop your ideal consumer persona and can clearly see their pain points, you see how valuable this information is to your marketing strategy. 

Not every consumer close to your demographic will convert, so it’s important to narrow it down to specific focus groups. 

Tap Into Google Analytics

The final step is Google Analytics. 

Google Analytics gives you valuable insights and key metrics on user behaviour, traffic sources and conversion rates. 

Utilising this data will allow you to identify trends and uncover which content resonates with your ideal consumer. 

It is one of the most popular tools used by many businesses for a reason. 

For understanding your target audience, you can get the following from Google Analytics data: 

• The demographics of your audience
• Where your audience is coming from
• Customer behaviour: How they’re finding your website
• Which pages your target market visit the most
• How many people visited your website last month vs last year

All this data provides you with an excellent starting point for narrowing down your market. 

However, without guidance, it's easy to miss key takeaways or feel unsure about what actions to take to target customers the correct way.

Know Your Audience and What It Takes for Them to Convert With Us

Knowing your target audience is powerful, but it’s just the first step. 

The real challenge is using that information effectively. 

Without a clear plan to bring everything together, marketing efforts can fall flat. 

Reaching them through SEO, paid ads, social media, personalised marketing materials and videos is where an expert digital marketing service comes in. 

Our digital marketing agency in Brisbane can help you turn insights into measurable results and be with you the whole journey, executing across every touchpoint. 

We can help you not only understand your brand’s target audience, but also the best way to reach them.

All of our strategies are data-driven.

We translate benchmarked data into predictive customer behaviour to execute your business’s masterplan for growth.

Together, we can create meaningful connections with your audience while delivering results.

Get in touch with us today.