Now, before you dive headfirst into the deep end of target audience research, you must first establish your brand identity and personality. So, if this target audience example is high-level executives in the digital space (who need an extremely advanced website with all the bells and whistles), the content you create would need to reflect this. These people are looking for a website that simply functions and won’t give them problems.Īt the top would be those high-level digital execs who are looking for the nitty-gritty details on UX funnels, scale demand, etc. If the target audience is people not versed in the digital business world, you would need to use terms that make sense to the everyday person – “spam blocker”, “email integration”, “Facebook integration”, and so on.Ī great way to start a target audience analysis is by understanding the “Hierarchy of Needs.”Ī target audience with little-to-no background in technical website design and development would fall in at the bottom of the pyramid. Writing content packed with digital jargon for the general plumber won’t likely do wonders in gaining traction.
On the other hand, (and I mean no disrespect) plumbers and electricians don’t work with websites everyday like digital/marketing executives. If the web design agency is creating content for an experienced executive in the digital space, they can get more technical in talking about aspects of web design like lead funnels, UX design, CRO, etc. By “very few,” I’m talking about brands like Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.ĩ9.999% of brands need to have a specific target audience hammered out for their content strategy.įor example, a website design agency needs to know whether they are creating content for an audience of high-level executives well-versed in digital or an everyday joe. Very, very few businesses can successfully pull this off. Perhaps the most detrimental mistake that you can make in formulating a target audience is assuming you can target EVERYONE. In other words, psychographics is all about deeply understanding your target audience on a personal level and how they interact with content. This is where you get into the weeds of target audience research with buying habits, behavioral nuances, interests, motivations, hobbies, favorite celebrities (influencers), and so on. Many would argue that this is the most important aspect of a target audience. It refers to the personality traits and lifestyles that your ideal customers associate with. Psychographic information is much more ambiguous than the previous two elements. These are the quantifiable characteristics that define your ideal customer. In some cases, your target geographic might be the entire planet – in which case the other two elements would be more specific. It be a specific city, state, or country. In general, there should be three key elements that define a target audience: 1. Having a clear vision of the target audience is something that needs to happen before any type of content is created or promoted. These are the demographics, personality types, and followings that would find your message most impactful. In a nutshell, a target audience is who you create your content for.
Learning how to identify target audience trends is perhaps the most crucial step in a content marketing strategy and one that takes much more effort than many assume. Ultimately, your ability to understand your target audience is how you capture attention, maintain interest, and (hopefully) create revenue.Ĭonsidering that generating traffic and leads is commonly listed as one of the top marketing challenges, it’s clear that conducting target audience analysis is no simple task.
“Know the customer” is the age-old saying in business.