The path to finding your target audience can be a winding one, and it may not always be as clear as one might expect–sure, most cartoons are geared towards children, and one might think that a majority of sports fans consist of men, but this is not always the case. A large number of adults watch animation that is catered for a younger audience, and you’d be hard-pressed to find many more goatees than purses at the next football game you attend. The point being that demographics aren’t entirely black and white, and even in cases where a majority of that audience falls into a certain category, there is still untapped potential within your audience. So, how do you find them?
Conducting Market Research
One of the first steps, if not the first step, a business should take towards discovering their target audience is to do rigorous market research, regardless of whichever market your particular business happens to be in. Doing so will provide you with vital information about the current market, industry trends, competitors, and data regarding clients and demographics, which will allow you to plan out how to best reach them and a wider audience. One business to look to for superb market research is Research America and their work in the healthcare industry, where they’ve conducted over 6,000 consumer market medical assessments, such as Market position studies, brand association and attribute studies, and advertising awareness and tracking.
Connecting With Your Current Customer Base
Perhaps the easiest way to determine what makes up a large portion of your target audience is to take a look at those that are already buying your product or service. Performing interviews with clients or putting out surveys for customers on social media is an excellent way to gather data, and it will also tell you where the business might be lacking in terms of demographics so that a better plan might be implemented.
Not Spreading Too Thin
After conducting your market research and analyzing your current customer base, it’s good to see which areas your business might be able to expand its reach. This being said, it’s not going to be possible to acquire every demographic for your product or service. There isn’t much point in wasting time and money advertising make-up to men in their forties or financial advice to toddlers, because chances are they won’t be interested.
Watch The Competitors
Seeing what kinds of people are buying products or services from your competitors can be an excellent way to determine similar demographics within your own target audience. Be sure to check ages, genders, locations, incomes, relationship status, hobbies, and professions, as these elements all play a role in determining the target audience.
Implementing these factors will make the search for your target audience as easy as possible, giving your business the chance to tailor its approach to those that already use your product, those that could be reached out to, and those that can probably be left alone.