We’re often told that we can’t be all things to all people. So why would a business be anyway different? It’s tempting when you start out to try to reach as broad an audience as possible. But is it the right audience? Defining your audience at an early stage is critical and will provide both time and budget savings in the long-term.
A common mistake I’ve seen with many clients is setting up as many social media channels as possible and then just posting the same content across all of them. There’s lots of channels as their audiences are different! It’s far better to define your audience and concentrate on the channels they are on. That way you can be more active and more relevant with more content.
For a business, especially a start-up, it can seem scary to try to scale back their target audience. It is a necessary evil however to ensure that the marketing messages reach the right people. This will not only help achieve sales but also to maximise the budget available.
“If you try to sell to everyone, then you’ll end up selling to no-one”.
So how do I define my audience?
Here’s 3 easy ways to try defining exactly who your product or service will appeal to.
Characteristics
Think about the key characteristics of the target audience? Age, gender, income, location, interests, hobbies, life stage. Start picturing the customer in your mind as if you were face-to-face with them. Now create a user persona for them. This is a semi-fictional character based on your current (or ideal) customer.
Competitors
All companies have competitors. And competitors have customers. Are these the customers that you also want to target. Then go do some research. Find out who is engaging with your customers. Look at their websites, social media pages. Are you now getting a sense of the target market you need to look at?
Community
If that all seems overwhelming, then look to your local community. This can be an easier way of reaching a smaller audience to begin with. Try running a poll to gauge interest in your product or service. Get involved in local online groups. Find out what people are talking about and if you can fulfil the need. Local businesses support other local business.
Remember your target audience is simply the specific group of customers that is most likely to respond positively to your promotions leading to sales of your product or service. The most important thing is to ensure you can picture clearly in your mind who you are talking to. Then talk to them in their language in the places they are.
Do you need help defining your audience? We’d love to chat.