What are the processes and the criteria you will use to select your target audience?

Let’s jump right in with the definition. A target audience is a group of people defined by various common attributes and characteristics. Simply put: they are the groups of people most likely to purchase your product or service. Defining this audience is an important part of creating a successful strategy.

For example, an online shoe seller may think that their potential customers are all the people who need shoes – virtually everybody in the world.  But the group of people looking for elegant pumps are probably different than those searching for waterproof trekking boots.

Investigating your digital brand’s existing audience can help narrow the target audience. For the online shoe seller, it will be important to look at the common characteristics and behaviors of existing customers. Consider social media channels, subscribers, geographical locations, and even payment preferences to help narrow the target audience.

But what about when the audience is more difficult to identify. For a platform for online training courses, such as teachable.com, or a software service that adds accessibility to your website, like accessibe.com, this process can involve more in-depth research. Identifying and defining the target audience and specific segments within that audience can be more complicated.

How do you define a target audience?

The natural place to start is by describing the pain point your product solves or the challenge it helps to overcome. Your target audience defines itself through your product attributes. An SEO agency is beneficial for people or companies with a web presence. A blood sugar monitoring app is useful for people with diabetes.

Now you have a broad definition of a vague audience. That’s not enough to position yourself in the market and create an approach for your marketing message. You need to find additional factors that make this group of people unique, and characteristics they have in common. We’ll show you how to find your target audience using audience analysis.

What is target audience analysis?

A target audience analysis is a structured process of gathering and interpreting information and data about the people most likely to consume your product or service. The goal is to identify the unique and common characteristics.

There are different approaches to researching your target audience, but they generally follow similar steps. The tactic you choose depends on your type of business and the lifecycle stage of your product. This determines the type of target audience you want to define and the factors you need to analyze in your marketing strategy.

A great way to see it through is by using an audience analysis checklist or template. Such as the one we use at Similarweb. Download your copy below.

A template provides structure, so you don’t get lost in the data. It helps you fine-tune your messaging and stay focused and on track with each step. You’ll have to record your findings in an organized way, so using an existing template can structure your research.

Types of target audiences

Start by breaking your analysis down into categories or types of target audiences. Typically you will define them according to:

• Demographics
• Interest
• Consumer behavior
• Product-specific criteria

Marketers may add purchase intention or funnel stage. Campaigns can target prospects or lead in a specific stage of the buyer journey.

Set your priorities. Is your customer base primarily defined by demographic information and related factors or any of the other types? That’s where you start your analysis. Eventually, your market research and target audience definition will comprise elements from each category.

Let’s look more closely at what each category includes.

1. Demographics

The most basic type of target audience is defined by demographics. Demographic factors include:

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Socioeconomic status
4. Income
5. Education
6. Marital status
7. Profession

You can use Similarweb’s Market Research dashboard to understand the main demographic details of your target audience and your competitors’ audiences.

2. Interest

You want to find out if your audience shares common interests and preferences. This could come in addition to the demographic parameters, but could also be more influential.

1. Hobbies
2. Type of sports
3. Preferred reading
4. Music & movie genres
5. Values
6. Political tendencies
7. Social involvement

You can use Similarweb’s keyword tool to research emerging trends and see search interest in a topic or search term over time.

3. Consumer behavior

In many industries, it is important to characterize your customers’ online behavior, specifically when it comes to purchasing decisions. Analyzing the way people purchase allows you to adapt your website’s UX/UI design, marketing campaigns, marketing message, and overall marketing efforts.

1. How long is the purchasing process?
2. Which social networks do they prefer?
3. Payment preferences?
4. Through which marketing channel did they arrive?

4. Product-specific 

It’s likely you offer more than a single product or even several product categories. You want to specify what’s unique and how you can target the most probable customer for each product type.

Let’s say you are offering separate subscription packages for your SaaS platform, from a basic startup to a full-scale enterprise. What features does the enterprise solution offer, and what common pain-point does it solve for business owners and digital marketing professionals? What does this mean for the potential user who would or would not benefit from your product?

This is also relevant for niche products or solutions that are highly specific. Let’s say you’re a small business offering online courses in web programming. You want to find out if you are attracting beginners who are making a career change or experienced programmers who want to expand their knowledge.

In this category, you could add practically anything that is a relevant factor for your customers.

Your competitor’s audience

To level up your target audience analysis, start collecting data about your competitors’ target audiences.  Find specific groups to include in your audience research and marketing plan. This is useful for two reasons: First, your direct competitors target the same audience as you, which means you can apply their audience characteristics. Secondly, compare and assess how you stack up to your competition. Identify areas where you are more successful and refine your targeting tactics.

Use your target audience analysis to refine your targeting tactics.

How to find and research your target audience 

1. Buyer personas: Imagine your ideal customer. Who would benefit most from your product? Create a detailed profile including demographic data, interests, and purchase behavior.
2. Surveys: Ask your audience directly about their interests and preferences. Simple, free survey software, such as SurveyMonkey, lets you create easy-to-navigate questionnaires that you can distribute to your contact lists or on social media.
3. Google Analytics: Collect data with GA about audience demographics and online behavior.
4. Similarweb: Get additional data with Similarweb’s audience analysis tools and monitor your content. Investigate your competitor’s audience demographic information and behavior and compare against them.
5. Facebook and Twitter Insights: Use the analytics tools various social media platforms offer.
6. Social Monitoring: Start social media monitoring with programs like Sprout and social listening tools to get additional insights. Find out who says what about you and your competitors.
7. Salesforce: Analyze your current customers’ preferences and characteristics and map out the buyer journey.
8. Feedback via email, website: Request feedback after a purchase or interaction with customer service. Encourage customers to leave reviews. Engage with your audience directly.
9. Competitors’ websites: Analyze your competitors’ websites and social media presence.
10. Relevant online groups: Join relevant online groups and participate in discussions.

To conduct a complete audience analysis, download our all-inclusive guide:

Target audience analysis examples

1. Target audience analysis for a new e-learning platform 

Imagine you are starting a platform for building and running online courses like teach:able. That could be anything from baking to weight loss, from graphic design to origami or a foreign language. The range of vendors who might use the platform is massive. The only thing they have in common is the desire to teach online and make money with it. How do you know which type is most likely to take you up on your offer?

Since you are only starting, you wouldn’t be able to target all of them but would have to identify the most likely group of coaches or teachers to begin with. An analysis can help you decide to focus on a specific area, such as handicrafts or fitness. Or it could reveal that targeting a particular age group in a specific stage of life may be your best bet.

2. Target audience analysis for a D2C athleisure brand

Now let’s assume you are an eCommerce business like aloyoga.com, offering courses, and it’s Yoga. The group of consumers most likely to attend your programs would-be mothers with small children at home. Your potential clients are physically active and share some concerns about fitness and health.

To effectively market your D2C brand, you need to know how and where to reach them digitally.

Another factor to analyze is the extremely high competition. With people stuck at home due to the pandemic, the number of online Yoga classes has exploded. Understand how other instructors position themselves and define a specific target customer or market segment that suits you.

3. Target audience analysis for a click-and-mortar apparel retailer

Here’s a question for you: Do you think Nike markets to one target audience? Of course not. A brand this size needs to identify multiple target audiences. They could define them according to different types of products, specific purchase behavior – online or offline, demographics, conversion rates, and so on.

In a target audience analysis or segmentation, they would cross-reference variants. For example, what are the demographics of people buying online vs. offline? Which age group is most likely to respond to which type of advertising and which products do they purchase?

4. Target audience analysis for a B2B/SaaS provider

For a business-to-business (B2B) company like Similarweb, you would want to describe the type of company that needs your service. You would analyze the size, industry, and reach. It’s also helpful to understand what differentiates the end-user from the decision-maker. This way, you can allocate types of audiences to products and campaigns to a segment of that audience. You would focus more on the B2B company’s digital presence and the purchasing process than in our previous examples.

Conclusion 

When you understand the importance of properly defining your target market, the value of taking a methodical approach to data analysis that focuses on a specific audience becomes clear. The results depend on the quality of the data you collect, and that, in turn, is a function of the tools you use for audience insights.

Similarweb’s analytics tool provides you with insight into audience demographics and behavior. It also lets you segment your audience for better targeting and analyze each segment further. Collect and examine data about your competition and their audiences to help you position yourself and improve your own audience targeting.

Find out how this is valuable for your business. Schedule a demo today.

This blog post was written with Ruth M. Trucks.

FAQ

What does a target audience analysis include?

Typically, a target audience analysis includes demographics, interest, consumer behavior, and product-specific criteria.

What is an example of a target audience analysis?

You’re starting an online courses platform. How do you know which type of vendor is most likely to take you up on your offer? An analysis helps you decide your focus.

Why does a target audience analysis matter?

Target market analysis determines where, and how, your product fits into the real-life market.

This post is subject to Similarweb legal notices and disclaimers.

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