Defining Your Target Audience: A Research-Driven Framework
TL;DR
- Your target audience should define your strategies — not the other way around. Know them first before you develop any campaigns or programs.
- While Demographics provide information on "who" a person is, psychographics reveal why that person buys. Both pieces of data are important to gather.
- Using models such as VALS, 5-factor personality model, and Self-Determination Theory provides a foundation for understanding the psychology behind the buying behavior that extends beyond age, income level, etc.
- As your target audience evolves, so too should your knowledge base about that audience.
Once you clearly define whom you are writing to, everything just seems easier. Everything feels clear. Marketing and messaging seem to be more focused. Your budget has a longer range of effectiveness. People see you and aren’t being sold something. This article takes you through a four-step method of defining your audience in a research-grounded approach. There are also several hands-on exercises you can do Today to begin building greater clarity and precision in your marketing efforts.
Why understanding your audience is important.
Prior to establishing goals and developing marketing campaigns, it is essential to establish a deep understanding of the people you wish to serve. In essence, you should allow your target audience to dictate where you go — not the other way around.
Understanding your target audience offers three significant benefits:
- Waste less. Focusing on the individuals who are most likely to respond positively to your product or service eliminates unnecessary waste. Wasting your energy on unresponsive audiences will ultimately lead to poor roi and frustration.
- Better communication. Communicating with people based upon their actual needs and desires results in people feeling seen — not sold. This increases the likelihood of positive responses to future communications.
- Spend smarter. Channeling your resources towards messages and tools that reach the intended audience at the correct moment results in improved resource utilization.
What does a target audience really mean?
Your target audience represents the specific segment(s) of people most likely to receive value from what you offer and subsequently interact with your work.
Your target audience encompasses more than just demographic characteristics alone. Many people possess qualities that cannot be defined solely by categories like age or income. Today more than ever before people are embracing things outside of traditional Demographics classifications. Therefore, it is necessary to delve inward to discover the underlying motivations, values, emotions, behaviors and places these attributes inside the systems they operate under.
Therefore, in order to really know your audience consider what they value, what drives their motivation, what obstacles or barriers they experience, how they make purchasing decisions and what emotional needs create their desire to purchase products or services.
In addition to understanding what they value, what motivates them, what obstacles/barriers they may experience while making purchases.
The following three Frameworks can also assist in creating a more complete image:
- The VALS model (a psychological framework which groups consumers according to consumer resources and/or values)
- The 5 factor model of personality (a personality classification system)
- Self-Determination Theory (the theory which defines basic psychological needs that all humans share including autonomy, competence and relatedness)
These models/ Frameworks are not fixed definitions or categories. They represent an artistic rendering (painting) versus a static photograph (polaroid).
The Connection Track
Review your current audience and reflect on them.
If making up completely new content each week is too much, dig deep into what you have. Repurposing content isn’t lazy; it’s intelligent. Most of your readers didn’t read your original post.
When you examine the individuals currently purchasing from you, contributing to you, volunteering time for you, or engaging with your material, do not simply assume based upon patterns that may appear. Ensure the information gathered is organized using the scientific method. This assures your Marketing assumptions will develop into testable, measurable statements which create an adaptable strategic approach. To further understand this, see: using the Lab to lead: how falsifiable hypotheses make your Marketing more accurate.
Research your market and community.
Conducting surveys, interviews and casual conversation will allow you to determine what drives those who have not become connected to you. When creating questions for a survey or interview, avoid making generic statements and ensure the questions asked are quantifiable. Researching other organizations or companies that are similar to your own organization can also provide insight into gaps and potential areas of opportunity you can uniquely fill.
Utilize data collection tools to help identify.
Data collection tools such as Google Analytics and social media insights assist you in identifying who is viewing your website or social media pages and what type of content they find relevant. Look at what they click on, share, and return to.
Create audience personas.
Creating Personas from your collected data provides insight. A well-developed persona goes beyond providing factual information. It also represents the individual's motivations, emotions, and the larger context surrounding decisions. Personas are created to serve as practical guides. They are not comprehensive, but should serve as a guide for how you write, design and communicate.
Practical exercises you can begin doing immediately.
Conduct a survey of your community: add a brief survey question to your next newsletter or ask a few simple questions. Ask what values your audience holds, what obstacles they face and how does your mission fit within their overall lifestyle?
Listen to social media conversations: identify specific key words or search terms on websites such as Reddit and listen to how your target audiences discuss your area of expertise without being sold anything.
Review your existing analytics: take 20 minutes to review your current data. What content was shared? Which received little to no engagement? The gap between these two will provide more information than most surveys.
Your audience will evolve over time, so should your understanding of them. Establish the habit of conducting regular check-ins rather than waiting until it is time to launch a new campaign.
If this article has helped spark a thought process or changed how you see things, please post in the comments section. Some of the best articles we write lead into some of the most interesting (and informative) comments.
And if you're currently trying to navigate a marketing or design issue - That is exactly what I am here for. Do you have questions regarding developing your company's branding? Do you need a Content Plan that reflects your business? Or simply a fresh perspective on something you've been staring at for so long? Let's Talk. No obligation; No Pitch. Just an open conversation about where you are now and where you would like to be.
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Lionel Lowery
Marketing Strategist & Creative Lead
Lionel works with small and mid-size businesses and nonprofits across the Triad, including Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and beyond, to clarify their message, strengthen their brand, and build marketing systems that actually hold up. Through LIONEL.MKTG, he brings together digital marketing, social media strategy, and graphic design for organizations that are done guessing and ready to move forward.
