Target audience analysis

«Trying harder doesn’t always work. Trying smarter is the answer.»

Jack Trout and Al Ries («Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind»)

All your marketing efforts are bound to succeed if you know and understand your target audience. Yes, it sounds simple! In reality, identifying, studying, and segmenting your target audience (TA) is quite a meticulous task. But it is certainly very interesting. Moreover, in the future, it will save you a lot of money, time, and your precious nerves

It is crucial to understand that this is not a templated collection of abstract data about abstract consumers, but rather a true exploration, during which you can find real «treasures», insights, and come up with ideas that were not even on the horizon initially. And, of course, in the end, achieve results in the form of sales and profit

So, let's figure out how to analyze and segment the target audience to maximize your benefits

What is a target audience?

A target audience includes all current and potential clients or customers of a service or product. Usually, this is a very large group of people, and businesses simply do not have the resources - primarily financial and human - to effectively reach and creatively communicate product messages to this vast audience. That's why segmentation is necessary here, which will help to act more focused

What is the essence of target audience segmentation?

Segmentation is the division of the TA into segments (groups) and the selection of one or several that most correspond from the point of view of:

• tactical possibilities
• strategy
• vision
• logic
• and other aspects of the company's activities

How will this help you gain a benefit? For example, when analysing the target audience and segmenting it, we found that there is a segment with a specific pain point that has not yet been addressed by any product or service. This means that by modifying, refining, or even developing a product or service from scratch that solves this pain, your business has the opportunity to become the leader in the segment and gain maximum profit in the moment. Isn't that great? Let's move on

How to implement TA segmentation into a marketing strategy?

After identifying a segment with an unresolved pain and determining a potential product/service that can solve it, you begin to consider the company's tactical capabilities - financial, technological, human. The main question here is - can we implement all this?

If the answer is «yes», the selected segment(s) of the TA become part of your marketing strategy:

• to solve the customer's problem - develop or refine the product/service
• to ensure the audience understands the product/service's positioning and unique selling proposition (USP) - a corresponding communication strategy and branding; this includes tone and communication channels, key messages, slogans, various creatives, advertising campaigns, that consider the characteristics of each segment (motives, selection criteria) 
• for effective promotion - develop an advertising strategy and set up targeting
• to boost sales - create offers tailored to specific segments, and build an effective sales funnel

Need a target audience analysis? Let’s talk about your goals!

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Criteria for segmenting the target audience

Now let's take a closer look at how to segment the TA and what to focus on to make the process as efficient as possible. We will also explore how this looks in the example of our real case

Segmentation can be done independently by logically examining the factors described above. Alternatively, you can refer to

Mark Sherrington's 5W Method  

Its essence lies in finding and structuring answers to five questions:

• What: What is it essentially? What is the product/service? What does the customer want to get?
• Who: Who is the product/service customer? Customer profile
• Why: Why does the customer need it? Why this particular product/service? USP
• When: When is the product/service needed? What are the triggers?
• Where: Where are the potential customers located? Where do they make their purchase decisions? What are the touchpoints?

Below is an example of target audience segmentation that we implemented using this methodology for «Ready to Fight» - a platform for easy and efficient search for sparring partners, fight opponents, trainers, agents, and solving other tasks in boxing

As we can see, the 5W methodology is quite an effective tool for working on TA segmentation, and importantly, it's simple, clear, and does not require multi-layered schemes or special knowledge

Methods of analyzing the target audience

How to get the most valuable data about your TA? There are two main methods: qualitative and quantitative. Their essence is clear from the names: 

Qualitative - primarily in-depth interviews and observations to:

• understand the process and criteria for selection
• find out the reasons for certain consumer behavior
• shortlist preferred brands in a specific category
• formulate questions and hypotheses

Quantitative - statistical data, surveys, testing to:

• get answers to questions
• understand the importance of factors identified at the previous (qualitative) stage
• confirm/refute hypotheses
• determine consumption frequency
• segment the audience

Both methods are necessary - they complement each other and allow you to get a complete picture of the TA. The more details you get during the analysis, the higher the likelihood of developing strategies, that provide both short-term and long-term benefits

How to conduct a marketing audience analysis?

Now to practice. Where to start and how to proceed?

1. Analyze current customers: collect data, including through specialized tools (e.g., Google Analytics), monitor social media, read reviews, conduct surveys
2. Analyze competitors' customers: determine competitors' promotion channels, study their social media and audience (using Socialblade, for example), read reviews, etc
3. Look for open statistics (including Google Trends), reports from various studies, and more
4. Explore forums, blogs - this is where unique consumer insights often pop up
5. Conduct in-depth interviews and research

It is very important during the analysis process to explore and find:

• demographic data (gender, age, social status, place of residence, profession, education, income, etc.)
• audience pain points
• selection criteria
• behavioral features, including stages and challenges of the customer journey
• similar and different criteria/parameters/characteristics, including interests

This is the foundation for segmentation! There's nothing more to add here

Target customer profile (consumer persona)

After segmentation, you need to develop customer profiles according to TA segments. Essentially, this means personalizing - «humanizing» - each segment: encapsulating in the description of a specific personality the characteristics, criteria, pain points, and other data collected during the analysis

You can use the following framework

• Who is this person? (demographic data)
• What are they thinking about now? (their worries, goals, concerns)
• What is their opinion about the category and the product/service?
• Why do they need this product/service? (motives)
• What are their barriers?
• What is this person’s lifestyle?

Why do all this? Well-defined customer profiles are very helpful in developing communication strategies, branding, and creating creatives. These tasks become much faster and easier to handle, and their effectiveness will be high

To summarize - the main tasks/objectives of audience analysis:

1. Identify the main motives, selection criteria, and barriers for consumers in the product/service category using the qualitative method 
2. Analyze and confirm/refute these insights and hypotheses using quantitative research
3. Segment the TA
4. Calculate the size of each segment
5. Choose the appropriate one and move on to the next stages: communication strategy, branding, development of tools, and creatives

Target audience analysis is one of the key aspects of marketing. It is, without exaggeration, a must-have! The relevance, depth, and detail of TA research results affect the development of marketing, communication, digital, and other strategies. It's quite a large-scale job, but it's important to approach the task with enthusiasm and interest, avoid complicating the process with incomprehensible dry theory, not analyze «for the sake of it», and always remember that all your marketing efforts are bound to succeed if you know and understand your target audience

Want to boost your sales? Start with a deep understanding of your audience

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