Would a target audience by any other demographic smell as sweet? Your target audience is the key to your company’s success, and just like your company is unique, so are the people who support and grow your company. This audience defines the direction and scale of your company, so the time you invest in developing a target audience will pay itself back tenfold. 

As a creative marketing agency, developing a target audience defines how we set your company up for success. Read on and learn how to find your target audience, as well as how to speak to them and develop an effective brand identity. 

The Importance of Knowing Your Target Audience

Your target audience doesn’t just sustain your company, it defines it. No matter how much work you put into crafting the company for yourself, as soon as it enters the public domain, your brand and company decisions are largely influenced by the people who support it. 

That is, as long as you know who your business is reaching. Companies that remain ignorant of the needs and circumstances of their customers are far less likely to scale and succeed, as they fail to adapt and expand their core clientele. Inevitably, companies that stay out-of-touch with their target audience will soon lose their customer base altogether.

A well-defined target audience gives you the following advantages:

• The data for an effective ad and marketing campaign. 
• An avenue for solidly refining your brand and messaging.
• A leg up against competitors with a less defined customer base.  

How to Find Your Target Audience

Your target audience is as complex as the human experience. Which is to say, you will never know your target audience completely; however, you can constantly narrow down your audience until you can reasonably predict the types of people who enjoy your product.

Let’s start from the broadest definition of target audience, then move our way towards specifics. 

Demographic Data

The broadest measure of your target audience is their demographic data. Demography provides us with the framework for understanding our customers, though it also leaves many gaps to be filled.

Demographic data can include some or all of the following:

• Age 
• Gender 
• Race
• Location – urban versus rural, west versus east, etc. 
• Political leanings 
• Religious beliefs 

Demographic data can be collected through any sort of digital marketing you use. Social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram will track a user’s age, gender, race, and location, among other things. Google also tracks this information, which makes it much easier to refine Google Ads and even your company’s web copy. 

Assumptions from Demography

Demographic data can offer insights into how you should plot your marketing strategy. If your target audience seems to be rural women in their 50’s and 60’s, then your marketing strategy should probably avoid the use of Twitter, which has a much younger user base. Or, if your target audience seems to be young, urban, and west coast, then you definitely want to use Instagram to communicate with your client base. 

What demographic data doesn’t provide, you can often fill in the blanks. For example, maybe you have the above two groups: rural women and urban youngsters. The average rural woman is probably more conservative and religious than the average urban youth, based solely on existing data about these two groups. 

That information may not seem relevant to your business, but it can indirectly influence the people you market towards. If rural women are your target audience, you can also assume they watch more TV, use Facebook a lot, and value personal independence. This information can help you choose your marketing channels and your brand’s tone of voice! Or, if you appeal to urban youngsters, you know that they dislike television, wear athleisure, and want to feel more connected and part of a community. Again, this helps you refine your marketing channels and hone in on your branding. 

Interpersonal Communications

The last source of information regarding your target audience comes from your communications with current clientele. If you notice that your steady customers are rural women, then you know that your Facebook presence is much more important than your Twitter!

Interpersonal communications are also a way to learn hyper-specific details about your customer base. How do they take their coffee? Do they prefer Coke or Pepsi? Apple or Microsoft? Do they like pop music, hip hop, or jazz? You might think these questions are completely irrelevant; however, pay attention to the brands your customers enjoy. You can emulate certain stylings from other brands and incorporate them into your own branding, whether that’s Apple’s minimalistic brand or Nike’s community-oriented brand. 

One note of caution: be wary of pigeonholing yourself into one target audience. Many companies have multiple target audiences, and if you put all of your eggs in one basket, your company will only scale so far, because it’s missing opportunities with other demographics that your competition can win over. 

5 Ways to Speak to Your Audience

Armed with your demographic data and target audiences, you’re ready to put strategy to practice. Consider the following five channels as ways to communicate with your customers – both new and potential! These channels apply to all sorts of audiences, though you will need to do additional research on best practices. 

1. Social Media

Users from every demographic are on social media, making it a great platform for client outreach and brand identity. Social media is a direct-to-consumer means of communication, though you should be careful with everything you post, because what goes on the internet stays there forever. 

2. Print 

Don’t listen to anyone who says that print is dying. People are more likely to read books now than they were 20 years ago, and newspapers are also seeing a growing amount of readership. Press releases and local journalism are both great ways to expand your reach to potential customers. 

3. Company Website 

Your company needs a website, no matter who your target audience is. Almost 90% of Americans use the internet at least semi-regularly, meaning that if someone stumbles upon your business, they will try to Google you. Your website acts as the handshake for your brand, so get it right the first try, and design a search-optimized website that encourages sales. 

4. Live Events 

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative for companies to foster communities as well. Though live events aren’t an option during the pandemic, companies can host live events on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, helping their customers feel more connected and engaged while also boosting the company’s platform. 

5. Newsletters

Lastly, a newsletter can help foster regular brand engagement and refine your company’s voice. A newsletter can provide valuable opportunities, deals, and freebies to your customer base, encouraging them to remain loyal patrons of your business. Newsletters can also help you choose the right words and develop a writing style for your brand, making them an essential component of any marketing strategy.

Finding Your Target Audience: Closing Thoughts

Your target audience is always evolving and becoming more precise. As your business grows, your customer base grows with it, so your marketing strategy must evolve with the new clients your company acquires. Remember: your brand identity is a conversation between both the company and its clients, so stay focused! 

Need help crafting your brand identity, identifying your target audience, or putting a strategy in action? Vela Creative Co. is your one-stop shop for all things marketing! Reach out today and see what our brand experts can do for your business.