{"id":5413,"date":"2015-06-11T13:35:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T18:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bluehost.com\/blog\/?p=5413"},"modified":"2015-06-11T13:35:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T18:35:11","slug":"how-to-identify-and-market-to-your-target-audience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluehost.com\/blog\/how-to-identify-and-market-to-your-target-audience\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Identify and Market to your Target Audience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even if you\u2019re not a huge baseball fan, the famous line from Field of Dreams<\/i>, \u201cif you build it, they will come,\u201d has become an encouraging motto about determination, perseverance, and being open to whatever surprises the universe has in store for you. A good marketing plan can follow this formula. By \u201cbuilding\u201d your target audience\u2014identifying your customer demographics and figuring out which tools will best attract them\u2014\u201dthey\u201d will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than targeting everyone, you should focus on the ideal customer for your business. Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that their product or service is right for everyone. For example, targeting Facebook Ads to \u201call\u201d (genders, ages, etc.) when your product is clearly for women over forty doesn\u2019t make much sense. Not only is advertising to everyone rarely valid, but it can actually hurt your marketing efforts by annoying people and wasting your advertising budget unnecessarily.
Follow these steps when\u00a0identifying your target audience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Determine your customer\u2019s demographics. <\/b>Unless you\u2019re selling oxygen, not everyone needs your product or service. So who does? Men or women? Old or young? Conservative or liberal? What is their economic bracket, education level, and interests? Once you\u2019ve narrowed the criteria down, it\u2019s a lot easier to focus your marketing strategy on those who are most likely to need what you are offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Determine your customer’s needs.<\/b> Now that you have a clear idea about the type of person you\u2019ll be targeting to, you\u2019ll have to identify their specific needs in the context of what your business is offering. In other words, what is the problem they are having that your product or service is the solution to? By putting yourself in their shoes and asking the questions they will have, you\u2019ll be able to address their concerns in your answer\u2014your marketing message\u2014before they occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Determine how your customer will learn about you.<\/b> We all have friends who prefer texting to calling, so we know that not everyone is receptive to the same modes of communication. Is your ideal customer older? Then you may want to run print ads. If they\u2019re Millennials who have never even read a newspaper, then you may want to run Twitter ads. Is your audience local or global? Are they a trendy bunch or a niche crowd? The best way to reach your target audience is via the channels from which they get their information already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Assume your customers are mobile.<\/b> These days more and more people are connecting with the world through their mobile devices, whether it\u2019s to read news, shop or communicate. In fact, tech analyst Mary Meeker<\/a> found that smartphones are outdistancing all other devices, especially the desktop or laptop computer, for Internet use. Of the 2.8 billion Internet users worldwide, 2.1 billion are mobile, a 23 percent increase from last year. So however you reach your target audience, make sure you include mobile advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you\u2019ve done your market research and identified your audience, it\u2019s time to connect with them. Delivering your message to the right people isn\u2019t always a simple job considering how many other businesses are going after the same audience, but here are some great ways to start marketing to your target audience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Publish content to all social media.<\/b> Social media is the new marketplace, so it\u2019s in your best interest to market your message via the social platforms on which your target audience is already spending time. In other words, don\u2019t waste time reaching out on Twitter if your target demographics are primarily on LinkedIn. Business Insider<\/a> and LinkedIn break down the demographics of the major social networks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n