How to find your Target Audience

"Selling to Everyone is as good as selling to no one, so how do you find that perfect persona that fits your brand style"

If you are reading this, you are probably not clear about the right set of people you should be selling to or,

You're having questions like:

Who is my target audience?

Why is it important to have one?

What is my target market?

Identifying your target audience is your business' number one task because its success or failure comes down to finding its target audience.

You may insist your target audience is all girls or boys or anyone that has money, but the sad truth is you can't target everyone.

If you are in this category, then you should avoid it if you want a long-term business.

Selling to everyone is the same as selling to no one.

"It's just like advertising a house worth 40 million dollars to a teenage student or selling food at a wedding party."

You can say, "I sell both male and female clothes, so obviously, my target audiences are both male and female."

Yes, but you can't sell it to all the males and females in this world. You still need to look closely at your business and narrow it down to those males and females your business is concerned about.

Let's cut to the chase, and get right to how you sell to the right audience.

So Keep reading…..

Target Audience

This is narrower than your target market. They are known as your potential customers. They are a group of people you want to sell to or to whom you address your products or services. It is classified into:

• Interest
• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Purchase power (how often they buy)
• Social class - (how they interact online and offline)
• Educational level
• Occupation
• Relationship status: single, married or divorced.

Why It's important?

When you identify your audience, all your marketing, promotion, and advertising become easier because you are passing the right message specifically to the right set of people, which will result in business growth or sales.

Targeting a larger set of people—that is, both your target audience and those who don't need your service—may result in their listening but not buying or converting because they may not find it useful, and your target audience may not buy because your message is too broad to speak directly to them.

So, how then do we identify our target audience?

How to identify your target audience

This is not an easy task, and that's why I have broken it down into these few steps.

Who are they?

These are people that represent your business.

One way to find them is through your social media handles. It could be on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

You can see that specific group of people under either of these categories by checking the comment section, likes follow, and shares.

It doesn't matter if they are active or not, buy or sign up, as long as they show some sign of interest on your social site, you can consider them as your target audience.

What Are Their Biggest Problems?

After identifying that person or set of people, the next step is to learn what they are struggling with.

It's all about your customer and not how awesome your product is.

So create a relatable or believable challenge they are likely to face or ask them directly (word of mouth) if you already have customers.

The goal here is to tap into your audience's greatest pain points so you can communicate with empathy and provide a solution.

Where Do They Get Information Online?

We all need information and seek it somewhere.

Your job is to find out where your target audience seeks information online. It could be on YouTube, a blog post, or on Twitter, and it could be in a specific language or tone.

"Use the potential pain point you've identified and provide a solution on the platform where they seek information."

It will be a great conversion for your business.

What Benefit Do You Offer?

Everyone seeks answers or solutions to their problems.

Think a little about your product and the problem it solves. What benefits does your product or service offer? What can it do to solve those problems? What is the main value offer?

Is it to reduce weight, to make more sales, or to give more confidence to thick women in fashion clothes?

Whatever it is that your brand is providing should be clearly stated to them.

Also, provide a unique selling point to be different from your competitors.

e.g. Netflix has a subscription-based service while Netnaija can be downloaded for free.

Who Do They Trust?

No one wants to buy from someone they don't trust, and that's why your service should be excellent. If you are offering a delivery service and promise to deliver in 3 days, it should be 3 days or less. If your brand is to sell quality clothes, then so shall it be?

They will always give positive reviews and recommend you to their friends and family.

Your company or brand will benefit greatly from knowing who your target audience is because doing so will enable you to focus your efforts on who is most in need of your products or services.

Now you get the gist. 😉