“The more the merrier” is not always the case: The importance of identifying your target audience

by Yanica Aquilina, Digital, Social Media & Client Partner

We often hear people saying the phrase ‘the more the merrier’, but this doesn’t always apply, especially in the marketing world.

Let me put you in perspective:

Imagine, you are in a room full of people where everyone is busy doing their thing; some are chatting, others are attacking their to-do list, whatever it is, their attention is not on you. You forgot to put on your wristwatch this morning, and your phone’s battery is flat, therefore you want to ask the people around you a simple question: “what is the time?”.

In the first scenario, you assume that everyone knows the answer, so, you ask everyone. The more the merrier – so you ask the question without looking at someone in particular, hoping that everyone hears, and someone responds. The probability is that despite hearing the question, no one will answer at all. The assumption is – “they are not talking to me, and I am busy, so maybe someone else will answer”. Therefore, they all carry on with their tasks and remain silent, while your question remains unanswered.

In the second scenario, you look around, find someone with a phone in hand, and ask them the question directly. This small, and “extra” step from your end, leads you to get your question answered almost immediately.

What is the difference between the two scenarios? One spoke to the masses, while the other one made use of targeting.

In today’s busy and cluttered world, everyone has something better or more important to do. If something does not properly call out to them, they simply ignore and continue with their lives, and your message will be considered as just “noise” rather than a personal “want” or “need”.

So, as a business owner, it is essential to ask: ‘who is my target audience?’ without answering with ‘everyone!’. Narrowing down your focus allows you to speak directly to the people with the highest interest towards your offering and therefore, target them effectively. The more you know about your target audience, the better you can target them and the better your results will be.

To make identifying your target audience a bit easier, try asking yourself the following:

1. What needs or wants are being met through my product/ brand offering?
2. Who is most likely to have those needs or wants? Create a buyer persona to get into all the details such as age, gender, interests, lifestyle, buying power, etc.
3. Who are my competitors and what makes my offering and target audience different from theirs?

Targeting is all about identifying your top priority potential clients and allocating your marketing and communication resources effectively towards reaching that priority. The more specific and clear you are with your target audience, the better you can reach and communicate with it. As a business owner or marketing leader, you need to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that being specific with your target audience means that you are stopping potential customers. This is definitely not the case. You are not blocking anyone who is not in your target audience from accessing your product or service; you are simply focusing your revenue-targeting-efforts on the cohort of people that are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

If you want to identify the right target audience for your business but have no clue from where to start – you are at the right place. The Concept Stadium can help you decipher who your audience is and create a marketing strategy that reaches it effectively! Get in touch on connect@conceptstadium.com.