How to understand the target audience

New Delhi: Pepsi launched an ad featuring ‘Kendall Jenner' handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer during a protest. The ad tried to align with social justice movements but backfired due to the brand’s opportunistic behaviour. 

The ad was targeting or was supposed to target a conscious young audience but failed. The main reason was that people saw it as Pepsi’s attempt to trivialise a serious matter. The ad appeared tone-deaf, making activism seem like a trend. Also, Kendall wasn’t a good choice for such a campaign since she had no history of any kind of activism. Of course, after the backlash the ad was pulled back within 48 hours. However, it became a case study forever for misjudging the target audience.     

Understanding your target audience is crucial for any business or content creator. When you know who you're talking to, you can tailor your messaging, products, and marketing strategies to meet their needs, making your approach more effective. The question is how can we do it?

What is a target audience?

A target audience refers to the specific group of people you want to reach with your product, service, or content. These are the people who are most likely to be interested in what you're offering. It can be defined by factors such as age, gender, location, income, interests, and more. By understanding these characteristics you can create more personalized and relevant content or marketing campaigns.

Why is it important?

As I mentioned in the beginning; a campaign can easily be misjudged, causing serious backlash and reputational damage. On the other hand, knowing your target audience helps in:

1. Creating relevant content: If you understand what your audience cares about, you can provide them with content they find valuable.
2. Improving engagement: People are more likely to engage with content that speaks directly to their needs or interests.
3. Optimizing resources: Focusing on the right audience ensures your resources (time, money, effort) are used efficiently.
4. Building relationships: When you know your audience, you can better understand their problems and offer solutions, creating a stronger relationship.

About 71% of marketers believe that knowing their audience is essential for effective marketing strategies. This statistic shows how crucial it is to understand who you're targeting in order to optimise your marketing efforts.

Steps to understand your target audience

1. Research your current audience: Start by analysing your current customers or followers. If you're running a business, look at your customer data (age, location, purchasing habits). For content creators, check the insights on your social media platforms to see who is engaging with your content. This data can give you a great starting point.
2. Conduct surveys and polls: One of the best ways to understand your audience is by asking them directly. Surveys and polls are simple tools you can use to gather information about their interests, challenges, preferences, and demographics. This can be done through social media, email lists, or even on your website.
3. Analyse competitors: Look at your competitors—who are they targeting? What kind of content do they create, and how do their audience respond? This can give you valuable insights into gaps in the market and help you identify a niche within your industry. Some tools like SEMrush, SpyFu and Ahrefs can help immensely.
4. Build customer personas: Once you have gathered sufficient data, the next step is to create audience personas. These are detailed profiles that represent segments of your target market based on shared characteristics. For example:
• Fashion retailers: Targeting urban males and females aged 18-35 who are engaged in fashion trends and culture.
• Tech companies: Focusing on tech-savvy individuals aged 25-45 who prioritize innovation and sustainability in their purchasing decisions.

These personas help in crafting tailored marketing messages that resonate more deeply with each segment.

1. Use social media insights: Social media platforms provide valuable insights into who is interacting with your posts. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn offer analytics that show age, gender, location, and interests of your followers. Use these insights to refine your approach and focus on the people who matter most to your brand.
2. Track website analytics: If you have a website, tools like Google Analytics can provide you with detailed information about your visitors. This includes which pages they visit, how long they stay, where they’re coming from, and much more. This helps you understand what content is attracting the most attention and which demographics are most engaged with your website.
3. Engage with your audience: Don’t be afraid to start conversations with your audience. Respond to comments, ask questions, and encourage feedback. The more you interact, the better you’ll understand their preferences and needs.
4. Segment your audience: Not all of your audience will have the same needs or preferences. Segmenting your audience into smaller groups based on similar traits (age group, location, interests, etc.) allows you to create more tailored content or offers. This can significantly increase the relevance of your messaging.

AI has made all these very easy and efficient. Some important tasks like data collection, predictive analysis, customer segmentation, eye tracking and heat maps etc. can be performed with ease. These steps propel the efforts of understanding the audience. Still understanding your target audience is a continuous process. When you know who your audience is, what they care about, and what challenges they face, you can tailor your efforts to deliver exactly what they need. This not only improves your marketing but also builds a stronger, more engaged relationship with your audience, helping you grow your business or brand over time.