Have you ever seen an online advertising campaign that has absolutely nothing to do with you? I just saw one on Facebook – it was a brand that I have never heard of the advertising for a product that I had never bought. I am not the target group of the brand, and this brand does not miss that you don’t understand who should market your product.
No company can market to everyone – so to whom do you sell? That is the question that your target group answers.
Good targeting speaks directly to a certain group and lets the audience feel connected to the brand. Understanding target groups is the key to every successful marketing strategy.
Every product and service has a target group, no matter how niche. In this article I will lead you through the implementation of a target group for your brand.
Table of contents
What is a target group?
“Target group” refers to a group of consumers who are characterized by common qualities such as demographic data, behaviors, interests, etc.
Brands identify their target consumers by articulating target group functions to create a clear picture of who the potential customer is. This picture clarifies the brand messages, focuses on marketing efforts and even leads which products should develop next.
For example, a wine company cannot sell high-end wine lovers and beginner wine drinkers. Through target group research, they were able to identify their target wine drinkers than 24 to 30 years that have an interest in wine but limited budgets. If you know your audience, you can concentrate on addressing these buyers instead of trying to address everyone.
Is it the same as one Buyer personality? No – your target group represents your entire potential consumer group. Your Buyer personality is a fictional representation of a target group.
Target market against target group
Both Target market And Target group are opportunities to group customers for segmentation. However, the “target market” refers to the wider group of potential customers. The target group sits within The target market and is a more specific segment.
Let us use an example of the Ikea in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
- Target market: People in the west of Pennsylvania.
- Target group: People in Western Pennsylvania who want to buy budget -friendly furniture.
- A potential target segment: Expectant parents in West Pennsylvania who need budget-friendly kindergarten furniture.
After you have identified a target segment, then create Buyer This represents the detailed emotions and needs of every customer segment.
Do the terms make more sense? Don”I’m worried, this is not a test and you won’t fail – as long as you concentrate on understanding the people who buy your product.
Types of target groups
The world does not need any generic marketing campaigns. Personalization is the key and it is something that modern consumers expect. A survey on the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) showed that this more than 80% Sermons of respondents reported that they lacked and expected personalized experiences.
This is achieved by concentrating on the different target group types of your brand. Here you are at a glance:
- Demography: Who is your customer
- Customer Journey phase: How well you know your brand
- Interests: How customers spend their time
- Subcultures: Relevant customer identities
- Values: What is most important for your buyers
Let’s take a look at what makes this special feature and draw real examples of learning.
Demography
The demographic segmentation divides a market into smaller categories based on variable characteristics such as age, breed, gender, marital status, income, education and nationality.
Every demographic factor influences consumer behavior and product preferences. For example:
- Gender: Consumers often work fashion, beauty and health purchases that match their gender identity. Marketing strategies often differ when they aim at men, women or non-binary buyers.
- income: The economic status affects purchasing power and influences the products or services that consumers can afford.
- Old: Product preferences can vary significantly between different age groups, as can advertising media and advertising campaigns.
For example, Aarp’s business strategy is based on old -age segmentation: the brands aim at people who are in retirement age or in advance. This is clearly reflected in marketing materials such as this Facebook post about “oldest peak”.
Demographic data is recorded by census, market surveys and analytical instruments.
Customer Journey Stadium
The term “customer journey” refers to the various points of contact that a customer has with a brand. The common phases include awareness, consideration, purchase and storage of products.
If you focus on different points in customer trip, your marketing should answer questions such as:
- consciousness: What kind of product is that?
- thoughtfulness: Why should I buy?
- Buy: Is this product right for me?
- Retention: Why should I buy again?
This type of targeting is effective because it delivers the exact news that people need, given their familiarity with the product.
Let’s take a look at the Electrolyt Company Liquid IV Example and see how to create content that aims at the different phases of the customer journey:
- What is fluid IV? Contents of consciousness Informs potential buyers about the product pain points and sets the product as a solution.
- Why should someone buy it? Consideration of content helps users understand product advantages.
- What is the best product for me at the moment? Buy content shares product details and social evidence.
- Why should I buy it again? Storage content Promotes repeated purchases by dividing additional product applications.
Interests
The interests represent the hobbies and activities that customers enjoy. Understanding customer interests helps you to uncover the motivation and behavior of the buyers and connect with your audience.
A product can have different target groups based on customer interests. Let’s use a bike as an example. Cyclists A could be interested in racing bikes. This customer wants to burn calories after work by driving long distances. Cyclists B could enjoy a relaxing bike to work.
Understanding customer interests in relation to your product is crucial to achieve the right buyers.
Priority bicycles is aimed at the interests of cyclist B. This is clear by the company slogan: “bicycles for everyday drivers”. This clear attitude makes it very easy for cyclists to choose themselves if this company is suitable for their interests.
Subcultures
Subcultures represent interests, lifestyles or identities that share some of their customers. They are similar to customer interests, but a subculture is directly bound to identity.
People define themselves through their subcultures, and each group has distinctive interests and needs. For example, not all parents are the same. Parents of adult children belong to a different subculture than parents of small children.
Understanding the subcultures in their target market helps to sharpen marketing materials and represent groups.
An example in real life for subculture is Liquid Death, a company with canned goods. The company was rooted in the Music culture from the beginning. It has retained this connection to the music industry through social media content, company aesthetics, partnerships and events.
Values
Consumers have unique values that affect how they live their lives and which brands they support monetarily. Customers who agree with the values of a brand rather try a product, repeat a purchase and recommend the product to others. Some values include:
- sustainability
- transparency
- Social justice
- accessibility
- Affordability
- Community
- Recording
- Diversity
These values are more than just topics: they are deep insights into the way the consumers see themselves and who they want to be.
By checking customer values, you can also identify industry trends. For example, an interest in plastic product packaging is a manifestation of the growing awareness of the public for the pollution of the sea and the landfill contribution.
Nuud deodorant knows that its customers take care of the environment and the chemicals they use on their body. The product is aimed at the values of customers by being free of plastic, natural, vegan and cruelty.
Tip: This classification is less simple than demographic data, since it deals with subjective internal features that can be more difficult to measure. Consider try a customer survey or use social hearing tools to collect data about which values match your product.
How to find your target group
Here are five steps that you can take to define and refine your target group.
1. Use HubSpot Analytics to learn more about your customers.
According to Drift Kings Medias 2024 report from State of Marketing, only 65% of the marketers have high quality data about their target group. This leaves 35%that your audience definitely does not know.
Drift Kings Media analysis is an excellent instrument to collect demographic details about your audience and in real -time analyzes to the performance of your marketing campaign.
Here you will find some information that you can find in the Analytics Dashboard.
Traffic analysis
This pursues the performance of your website and other digital assets. It offers metrics such as side views, clear visitors, bounce rates and session.
You can also see your traffic sources (organic, direct, recommendations, social media, etc.) with which you understand which channels drive most engagement.
Conversion Analytics
With HubSpot you can track how well your target pages and other conversion tools are carried out. This includes data on form introductions, lead conversions and the effectiveness of different CTAs (call-to-action).
You can also analyze them Conversion path In order to optimize the steps that their visitors have taken from entry to the website, they mean that they become paid customers.
Campaign analysis
Simply measure the performance of every marketing campaign that you carry out in Drift Kings Media. This includes impressions, clicks, conversions, sales and ROI. This helps you measure which campaigns are most effective.
Custom reports
With HubSpot you can create custom reports that meet certain requirements. You can put together various data points of marketing, sales and service platforms to create comprehensive reports in order to meet your unique business requirements.
Pro tip: If you don’t use HubSpot Analytics, you can connect your website Google Analytics To find demographic data about your target group, including age, gender, interests, lifestyle, nationality and more.
2. Use website data to measure the interests of the audience.
Which website pages receive most views, stocks and comments? Both the flowering and the swinging pages contain valuable knowledge of behavior that you can learn from.
First learn from the top actors. Are there any topics between the most popular pages? How do users find you? How long do users spend on the page and how far do you scroll? Click around after reading or do you become an e -mail subscribers?
Pro tip: Implement an optimized navigation menu or a sidebar in which your popular content contains prominently so that visitors can easily find these flowering pages.
Some companies underline their top performance content on their website in a section “Trend” or “Most Popular”, as Glossier’s blog:
Then analyze the content of the sub -performance. Are there topics on which pages get the lowest traffic? Are you visible on the website or are you buried? Are you optimized for the search? Is it possible that the pages will match their audience with a low readership, but the pages are not discovered?
I”I have found that many companies buried high -quality content deeply in their blog archives. If you find that old parts are not read, but are still valuable, update them for improved visibility.
3. Analyze social media data for additional knowledge.
Social media channels collect different data from your website that can contain robust insights into the demographic data of customers and preferences.
Analyze two types of social media data:
- Demographic data: Where do customers live? How old are you?
- Content settings: How do the audience get most involved? What attracts the new spectators? What”s works and what doesn’t?
Every social channel is different and has a diverse audience. It is therefore important to look at your analyzes on all social platforms. Here is an example of some of the knowledge you can receive from Facebook Analytics:
Pro tip: On some platforms such as Facebook you can use detailed demographic information to segment your audience and adapt your marketing campaigns. You can effectively adapt your content, message and advertising strategies so that you meet the characteristics and preferences of different audience segments.
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Social media is a slightly available, free place to carry out market research. Attach yourself with surveys, interactive surveys and “ask us something” questionnaires.
Use this invaluable two-way medium to questions such as:
- How do you use your product?
- What is your biggest complaint related to the problem you solve?
- How often do you use your product?
This can be done directly on social media platforms -Instagram Stories is probably the most popular place. Alternatively, you can create a formal survey and ask social media followers for participation. Remember: the entire commitment is valuable, be it positive or negative.
Pro tip: You can maximize the commitment by presenting the results of your questionnaires. This audience signals to its audience that their input is evaluated, which improves loyalty and attracts new supporters.
Here is a great example of the survey of Budget Bus Company Flixbus:
Flixbus’ Social -Media content perfectly matched his audience: budget travelers who love a lot. As a customer, I feel seen by your humor and surveys.
5. Articulate your reverse audience.
Sometimes the details of a well -defined target group appear most clearly when you describe who you not Targeting. Which consumers fit badly with your brand? Who are you trying to ward off? This is also known as negative persona.
Let’s look at two contrasting water brands as an example. In the first place is the boxed water, which is aimed at consumers who are interested in the environment, wellness and simplicity.
Let’s compare with Evian Water. Evian could describe his customers as people who appreciate sport, luxury food and premium events. If you feed the Instagram feed next to each other, the properties that make these brands unique will sharpen.
Think of this opposite case of thinking while we look at the following examples. I drew five examples of target groups in the real target groups and inserted contrasting brands for everyone to make the audience crystal clear.
Examples of target groups
Let”S take the concepts that we have checked at the top and see how you manifest yourself in the following examples.
1. Aldi
Aldi Is a budget supermarket chain that appeals to practical buyers who prioritize savings before style.
The Company”S Approach for the target group’s target group works due to the focus on the everyday needs of the average consumer. The majority of the business is filled with stapling clips instead of endless skus and brand names. A section of the business (the “Aldi Finds” section)) is filled with random rotating objects that range from underwear to seasonal cookies to the dormitory.
Aldi”Somoting does not make buyers together to put together a perfect dinner of Instagram or to change their health. Instead, they support themselves in the budget cooking and everyday chaos of life. Your marketing is available and laughs together with spectators like this contribution to threads:
WHO not Aldi tries to aim? Aesthetic buyers (such as traders Joe’s) or Health First consumer (such as Whole Foods).
What I like: When Aldi was popular for the first time, where I live, it was known as a shop with the strange layout and without shopping bags. The company has not tried to mix with the competition: it built up a relationship with consumers based on reliable prices and food quality.
2. Duolingo
Duolingo is a language learning app that uses humor and pop culture relevance to address Z and Millennial Consumers who want to work with language learning.
Take a look at Duolingo’s marketing channels and you can ask yourself: “What does something have to do with language learning?” The answer: not much.
Instead of sharing grammar tips, marketing focuses on establishing the brand as a pop culture. Language learning is usually based in a cultural interest in the language they learn. But Duolingo understands that learning from casual language is a cultural change in itself, from formally To Fun.
Duolingo’s approach to the target group, which are aligned with the target meeting, has a focus on progress instead of the flow ability. Gamification is a key piece of his brand and how it differs from competitors.
Here”S An example of a viral Tikok video in which learning Koreans on Duolingo with Netflix ‘popular show ink ink game is aligned:
WHO not Duolingo tries to attract? Serious language learning who want to develop conversation skills (like Rosetta Stone).
What I like: When Duolingo user (currently practiced Dutch), I do not expect that I will get a language fluid in the app in a few minutes a day. I only enjoy the satisfaction of daily practice, no matter how small.
3. Dunkin ‘
The understanding of the company for its target group is also evident in the name. Dunkin ‘, previously Dunkin’ Donuts, was a Rebrand in 2018. It turned away from his sugar -containing namesake and included what his audience loved the most: coffee to help them through the daily border.
Dunkin”S Approach for the target group’s target group works because you understand how your consumers use your product: Dunkin ‘knows that users love to get coffee on the way to work.
They position themselves with their slogan as embedded in the busy routines of customers: “America runs on Dunkin.” This philosophy is bursting from Dunkin’s funny, relating social media content:
WHO not Darkin ‘try to win? Coffee drinkers who want to make themselves comfortable with a cup of special coffee in a stylish surroundings (such as Starbucks).
What I like: Dunkin’s rebrand showed that companies can successfully turn when the customer data show that consumers move in a new direction. Follow the customer’s leads instead of trying to tell you where to go.
4. Planet Fitness
Planet Fitness is a fitness chain that positions itself as a “judgment -free” for people of all fitness levels.
Your approach to the target group works because you understand that your customers experience gymnastics: Fear of going to the gym. This is often based in fear of judgment or uncertainty about how the machinery can be used.
In social media, Planet Fitness does not share for motivation before and after and after and after the photos or six-pack belly muscles. They focus on the emotional profits of going to the gym and making movement accessible.
Here is an example of mobility training that the company shared on YouTube and can be completed at home without being needed in the gym:
WHO not Planet Fitness tries to attract? People who are interested in a boutique class experience (like Soulcycle) or intensive lifting enthusiasts (Gold’s fitness).
What I like: The emotional connection that Planet Fitness builds with its goal is so effective. They found their unique proposal and went to them, from their gym design to their social media content, where they help people pull themselves from home. This inclusiveness helps to promote long -term brand loyalty.
5. Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s is an ice cream that appeals to socially conscious consumers who prefer to buy from values-based brands.
The company organizes strong points of view for public problems, even if these problems have nothing to do with the sale of ice cream.
Mixing ice cream with social problems alienates some potential customers. So why make the trouble? Consumers know what Ben & Jerry stands for, and this attracts loyalty, aligned customers. Corporate values strengthen customer relationships.
Instead of just being normal ice cream, the company positions itself as an ice cream with one thing. Here is an example from the “Pecan Resist” campaign 2018 (pun on the expression “We can resist”):
WHO not Ben & Jerry’s Targeting? Healthy buyers (like Halo Top) or people who treat themselves to a pleasure (like Magnum).
Why this value stargeting works: Unique campaigns for social justice campaigns slightly backwards or feel performative. Ben & Jerry’s attitude works because the company has decades of history of activism. As a result, the valuable marketing messages have built up brand loyalty.
Identify your target group like a professional.
Consumers do not want to see any ads for products they would never use. And no company wants to waste advertising spending on the wrong people.
I hope that all examples of the audience’s goal have helped to recognize the hidden mechanics behind the relationship of each brand to their viewers.
You can no longer concentrate the steps described above on the mass market and invest in the search for your desired customers.
Are you ready to dive? Use the free Drift Kings Media market research kit to help you dig deeper. Inside you will find a instruction manual, a SWOT analysis template, a survey template, a focus group template and more.
Note from the publisher: This post was originally published in January 2020 and updated for completeness.