Target audience: what it is, its importance and how to define it for your company
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:49 am
It is unlikely that a company will achieve the desired success if it is not clear about its target audience.
This information is essential for developing more effective marketing, sales and solution development strategies for your customers.
So that you can better understand this subject, we have prepared a complete guide here that will explain what a target audience is, the difference between a persona and a target audience, their importance for business performance and a step-by-step guide on how to define a target audience:
Do market research;
Understand the type of solution you offer;
Segment the market in which you intend to operate;
Identify the segments that are most attractive to your business;
Choose the segment that will be your company's target;
Always update your target audience.
What is target audience?
To define what a target audience is, we can start by stating that it is a portion of society with which there is an interest in doing business.
This segment of people or companies have similar interests, desires and profiles and can benefit from the product or service that a given company offers.
It is towards the target audience that brand promotion strategies, dissemination of solutions, sales and service are directed.
In short, the target audience is a group of people that the company wants to bring into its customer base.
Read also: Want to grow and engage your audience? Learn how to get engagement on YouTube in 7 steps
Target audience is a well-known marketing concept, learn more in this video:
What is the difference between a persona and a target audience?
In general terms, “persona” and “target audience” are terms used to refer to who the company should target and dedicate its efforts to boost sales, increase recognition and earn more. In other words, they are the people who will buy from the company and generate revenue for it.
Although this is not entirely wrong, there are differences between persona and target audience that deserve to be pointed out in order to avoid considering these terms as being the same thing.
Target audience is used to refer to a more general group of people with common interests , similar needs, similar demographic and psychographic characteristics, the same geographic location and similar consumer behaviors.
The persona, in turn, is the semi-fictional and less generic representation of a person who is part of this target audience. It is the ideal customer profile, a personified “illustration” of a person with whom the company is interested in doing business.
Understand these concepts better in this video from Simplo7:
Target audience: example for inspiration
To better understand what a target audience is, how about checking out some examples? There are different types of target audience, which can vary depending on the type of solution the company has to offer.
Example 1
Women, aged between 25 and 35, living in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with higher education, belonging to classes A or B, with an average income between 5 and 10 minimum wages, who are interested in fashion, architecture and decoration.
Example 2
Women, aged 15 to 35, who are interested in makeup and want to learn how to apply makeup to themselves and others as a way of working. They can live anywhere in the country. They have an income of up to 4 minimum wages, belong to class C, do not have higher education and want to learn how to open a business focused on makeup for events.
Example 3
Men, residents of São Paulo, belonging to the middle class, aged 20 to 40, with a higher education level or studying for a degree, who want to learn how to invest in the stock market, follow economic news, consume online content about investments and financial education and are active in using social networks.
How important is it to have a well-defined target audience?
A company that has a well-defined target audience can take its products to people who are more likely to become customers.
Defining the target audience is extremely important so that the company's marketing campaigns reach the segment with which the company wants to do business.
Check out some advantages below that help to convey the importance of defining your company's target audience:
1 – Creating more effective campaigns
When you have a well-defined target audience, it becomes much easier to establish effective marketing campaigns and strategies that are capable of reaching and impacting the right people.
2 – Optimization of investments in communication
With a clearly defined target audience, it is possible to optimize the costs of communication campaigns.
Instead of spending a lot of money trying to get your message across to a large group of people, you can segment your communication to those who really have the potential to show interest in your solution.
To ensure that your communication efforts are switzerland business fax list truly effective, we have developed a step-by-step guide. Take a look: Company Communication Plan: Hit the Target in 5 Steps
3 – Better identification and use of business opportunities
Companies that have a well-defined target audience are better able to identify segments that have not yet had their demands fully met and that end up being good business opportunities.
4 – Brand positioning
A brand can position itself more relevantly when it has a defined target audience. The company understands what its audience values most , and can position itself in a way that is more aligned with that.
See how customer value matters: 3 tips on how to generate value for customers + importance of practice
5 – Differentiation from the competition
By defining your target audience, it becomes easier to differentiate yourself from your competitors. You know who you are targeting your business at and what this audience values.
This way, it is possible to adopt strategies that offer them what no other company is capable of offering.
Step by step: how to define target audience?
Having clarified what a target audience is and its importance, how about finding out how to define a target audience?
Here we have put together a step-by-step guide to guide you through this important task for any business model, including the sale of online courses.
Step 1 – Do market research
Firstly, to define the target audience, it is necessary to carry out market research and try to understand the current situation in which they find themselves.
You must gather information about the main players and how they behave and position themselves , the average prices charged for solutions similar to yours, the influence of macroeconomic factors, consumer habits, niches that have not yet had their needs fully met, etc.
In other words, you must do a real X-ray of the market, trying to find gaps in which your business has a better chance of inserting itself and standing out.
Read more: Distance learning course satisfaction survey: how to apply it and why is it important?
Check out the video with tips on how to create questions for a satisfaction survey:
Step 2 – Understand the type of solution you offer
Defining your target audience also involves understanding the type of solution you offer.
You need to know in depth the characteristics and differences of your product, as well as the problems it is capable of solving.
Try to understand what would make a person purchase your product and what benefits it delivers.
Step 3 – Segment the market in which you intend to operate
To define your target audience, you must segment the market based on a number of factors, such as demographics, psychographics, behavior, and geographic location.
Based on this segmentation, it will be easier to identify the audience with the profile to become a customer of your business.
Step 4 – Identify the segments that are most attractive to your business
Once you have segmented the market, you must identify those with the greatest potential to attract your business model.
To do this, you must consider the size of the segment, whether the needs have already been met by your competitors, whether there is growth potential, the barriers to entering this segment, etc.
Step 5 – Choose the segment that will be your company’s target
After segmenting the market and identifying the most attractive segments with the greatest potential to generate profits for your business model, you must choose what your company's target will be.
It's time to choose one or more segments to which you will direct your strategies and campaigns.
It is recommended to document all the characteristics of the chosen audience for future reference.
Step 6 – Always update your target audience
As your business grows, you may need to review the audience you want to reach.
A company won’t always focus on the same target audience throughout its entire life cycle. After all, a target audience you define today may not even exist in 5, 10 or 15 years, causing you to waste money and effort trying to reach and convert them.
Therefore, it is very important to keep your target audience updated . This can be done through periodic market research.
If you work with digital products, such as online courses, for example, here are some other tips and how to plan your business:
Tools for defining target audience
There are some tools that can be great allies in this step-by-step guide on how to define your target audience.
Here we have brought some examples of technologies capable of helping you find the target audience for your business model.
This information is essential for developing more effective marketing, sales and solution development strategies for your customers.
So that you can better understand this subject, we have prepared a complete guide here that will explain what a target audience is, the difference between a persona and a target audience, their importance for business performance and a step-by-step guide on how to define a target audience:
Do market research;
Understand the type of solution you offer;
Segment the market in which you intend to operate;
Identify the segments that are most attractive to your business;
Choose the segment that will be your company's target;
Always update your target audience.
What is target audience?
To define what a target audience is, we can start by stating that it is a portion of society with which there is an interest in doing business.
This segment of people or companies have similar interests, desires and profiles and can benefit from the product or service that a given company offers.
It is towards the target audience that brand promotion strategies, dissemination of solutions, sales and service are directed.
In short, the target audience is a group of people that the company wants to bring into its customer base.
Read also: Want to grow and engage your audience? Learn how to get engagement on YouTube in 7 steps
Target audience is a well-known marketing concept, learn more in this video:
What is the difference between a persona and a target audience?
In general terms, “persona” and “target audience” are terms used to refer to who the company should target and dedicate its efforts to boost sales, increase recognition and earn more. In other words, they are the people who will buy from the company and generate revenue for it.
Although this is not entirely wrong, there are differences between persona and target audience that deserve to be pointed out in order to avoid considering these terms as being the same thing.
Target audience is used to refer to a more general group of people with common interests , similar needs, similar demographic and psychographic characteristics, the same geographic location and similar consumer behaviors.
The persona, in turn, is the semi-fictional and less generic representation of a person who is part of this target audience. It is the ideal customer profile, a personified “illustration” of a person with whom the company is interested in doing business.
Understand these concepts better in this video from Simplo7:
Target audience: example for inspiration
To better understand what a target audience is, how about checking out some examples? There are different types of target audience, which can vary depending on the type of solution the company has to offer.
Example 1
Women, aged between 25 and 35, living in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with higher education, belonging to classes A or B, with an average income between 5 and 10 minimum wages, who are interested in fashion, architecture and decoration.
Example 2
Women, aged 15 to 35, who are interested in makeup and want to learn how to apply makeup to themselves and others as a way of working. They can live anywhere in the country. They have an income of up to 4 minimum wages, belong to class C, do not have higher education and want to learn how to open a business focused on makeup for events.
Example 3
Men, residents of São Paulo, belonging to the middle class, aged 20 to 40, with a higher education level or studying for a degree, who want to learn how to invest in the stock market, follow economic news, consume online content about investments and financial education and are active in using social networks.
How important is it to have a well-defined target audience?
A company that has a well-defined target audience can take its products to people who are more likely to become customers.
Defining the target audience is extremely important so that the company's marketing campaigns reach the segment with which the company wants to do business.
Check out some advantages below that help to convey the importance of defining your company's target audience:
1 – Creating more effective campaigns
When you have a well-defined target audience, it becomes much easier to establish effective marketing campaigns and strategies that are capable of reaching and impacting the right people.
2 – Optimization of investments in communication
With a clearly defined target audience, it is possible to optimize the costs of communication campaigns.
Instead of spending a lot of money trying to get your message across to a large group of people, you can segment your communication to those who really have the potential to show interest in your solution.
To ensure that your communication efforts are switzerland business fax list truly effective, we have developed a step-by-step guide. Take a look: Company Communication Plan: Hit the Target in 5 Steps
3 – Better identification and use of business opportunities
Companies that have a well-defined target audience are better able to identify segments that have not yet had their demands fully met and that end up being good business opportunities.
4 – Brand positioning
A brand can position itself more relevantly when it has a defined target audience. The company understands what its audience values most , and can position itself in a way that is more aligned with that.
See how customer value matters: 3 tips on how to generate value for customers + importance of practice
5 – Differentiation from the competition
By defining your target audience, it becomes easier to differentiate yourself from your competitors. You know who you are targeting your business at and what this audience values.
This way, it is possible to adopt strategies that offer them what no other company is capable of offering.
Step by step: how to define target audience?
Having clarified what a target audience is and its importance, how about finding out how to define a target audience?
Here we have put together a step-by-step guide to guide you through this important task for any business model, including the sale of online courses.
Step 1 – Do market research
Firstly, to define the target audience, it is necessary to carry out market research and try to understand the current situation in which they find themselves.
You must gather information about the main players and how they behave and position themselves , the average prices charged for solutions similar to yours, the influence of macroeconomic factors, consumer habits, niches that have not yet had their needs fully met, etc.
In other words, you must do a real X-ray of the market, trying to find gaps in which your business has a better chance of inserting itself and standing out.
Read more: Distance learning course satisfaction survey: how to apply it and why is it important?
Check out the video with tips on how to create questions for a satisfaction survey:
Step 2 – Understand the type of solution you offer
Defining your target audience also involves understanding the type of solution you offer.
You need to know in depth the characteristics and differences of your product, as well as the problems it is capable of solving.
Try to understand what would make a person purchase your product and what benefits it delivers.
Step 3 – Segment the market in which you intend to operate
To define your target audience, you must segment the market based on a number of factors, such as demographics, psychographics, behavior, and geographic location.
Based on this segmentation, it will be easier to identify the audience with the profile to become a customer of your business.
Step 4 – Identify the segments that are most attractive to your business
Once you have segmented the market, you must identify those with the greatest potential to attract your business model.
To do this, you must consider the size of the segment, whether the needs have already been met by your competitors, whether there is growth potential, the barriers to entering this segment, etc.
Step 5 – Choose the segment that will be your company’s target
After segmenting the market and identifying the most attractive segments with the greatest potential to generate profits for your business model, you must choose what your company's target will be.
It's time to choose one or more segments to which you will direct your strategies and campaigns.
It is recommended to document all the characteristics of the chosen audience for future reference.
Step 6 – Always update your target audience
As your business grows, you may need to review the audience you want to reach.
A company won’t always focus on the same target audience throughout its entire life cycle. After all, a target audience you define today may not even exist in 5, 10 or 15 years, causing you to waste money and effort trying to reach and convert them.
Therefore, it is very important to keep your target audience updated . This can be done through periodic market research.
If you work with digital products, such as online courses, for example, here are some other tips and how to plan your business:
Tools for defining target audience
There are some tools that can be great allies in this step-by-step guide on how to define your target audience.
Here we have brought some examples of technologies capable of helping you find the target audience for your business model.