5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Determining Your Target Audiences

A properly targeted audience can go a long way in determining the success of any advertising campaign. The key is finding the right balance. If you try to reach everyone, you will reach no one. Think of targeting as fishing. If you cast your rod into the water without any bait, strategy, or even a good line, you won’t have any luck. Come to think of it, that’s also a good metaphor for dating. Regardless, the idea is that you need a strategy or else you’ll be lost. Here are five key questions to ask yourself when determining your best target audiences.

1. What is the desired action you want the target audience to take?

Basically, this is making sure you begin your research with the end goal in mind. Do you want them to buy your product or service? Donate to a cause? Visit a website? Whatever the goal is, it can go a long way in determining your target audience, so keep it in your mind as you go about your research. Can you imagine starting a race where you didn’t know the location of the finish line?

2. What demographic groups are most likely to take the desired action?

Identify not only who has a need for your product or service, but also who is most likely to take action. Different demographic groups require different advertising techniques. Consider factors such as age group, gender, location, family status and occupation. Be specific, but be sure not to whittle down too far.

3. How does your target audience think?

Technically speaking, the goal here is to identify psychographics, but it’s actually much more than that. You want to get inside the head of your target audience and learn everything about their inner workings. Identify personality types, attitudes, values, hobbies, lifestyles and even their behaviors. Ask yourself what needs and challenges they may have. At this point, you should be able to tell if the demographic group you identified has a need for your product or service.

4. How can you best reach your target audience?

Determine the type of media that your target audience uses. Is it a competent and cost-effective way to reach your audience? Are there ways to reach your audience that are easier than others? What times during the day, week, and even year, are your audience most active on that media platform?

5. Are you confident that you picked the best target audience?

As we mentioned before, you have to find the right balance. If you have too many people in your target audience, chances are the advertising campaign won’t appeal to any of them. On the flip side, if you have only a handful of people, you might have broken things down too far. Find the yin to your yang. The salt to your pepper. The Kim to your Kanye.

Target audiences are the key to success in any advertising campaign. You can only go as far as your consumers take you, so targeting the best group is imperative. To learn more about targeting, visit Relic at http://relicagency.com/contact.