How to Target the Right Audience in 5 Simple Steps

Instead of trying to succeed by marketing to everyone, define your target audience.

learn more about Murray Newlands

By Murray Newlands

Shutterstock.com

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when starting your own business is trying to appeal to everyone. Instead of trying to succeed by marketing to everyone, define your target audience. Knowing your target audience's motivations is essential to tailoring your product, service, and marketing efforts to meet their needs, and is one of the fastest ways to success -- in fact, it's very difficult to succeed without that knowledge.

Though it may seem difficult to try to market to your target audience, it's easier than ever once you know what you must do. Below, I've put together five truly simple steps that will allow you to target the right audience and be more successful than you ever imagined.

Social media polls

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are effective ways of surveying your target audience. Social media polls are one of the most popular and simple ways of finding out more about your customers. Social media sites have made it easier for you to engage and listen to what your audiences have to say, and offer fully customizable forms that will help you expand your reach and even grow your fan base. Polls are equipped with analytical tools that will give you information on your audience's age group, location, profession, and more.

Related: Android's 'N-Word' Poll Sparks Online Jeers

Online surveys and email surveys.

Standard surveys will surely keep you ahead of the game. Surveys are the perfect tool for a hands-on approach to staying up-to-date with what consumers are thinking. The most important part of conducting online surveys is knowing what you want to learn from each question, and to keep questions short and easy to answer. You can also create email campaigns to survey your existing client base and gain valuable insight about them. For extremely basic customer surveys, ClickInsights has a one-click, one-question email survey, or try the more in-depth options at Survey Monkey.

Related: How to Ask Survey Questions for Maximum Marketing Benefit

Analyze current customers

How old are your current customers? Where do they live? Is your audience primarily male or female? What is their average income? What is their profession? What are their interests? These are just some of the questions you need to ask to understand who is currently buying your product or service. From there, ask yourself how you are reaching them. Are you gaining more clients through social media? If so, which of your social media platforms are getting the most attention? Analyzing your current customers will help you direct your efforts towards the right audience, increase closing rates, and reduce the amount of time needed to make sales.

Brian Lischer, CEO and Founder at Ignyte Brands, weighs in on why he believes that this is one of the most important aspects of targeting and messaging, "Don't ignore your customers. It never ceases to amaze me when clients want to skip the customer research portion of their campaigns. You have to understand your audience in order to speak with them in a meaningful way. In fact, we won't work with companies that refuse the audience research portion of their branding campaigns."

Related: How to Ask Survey Questions for Maximum Marketing Benefit

Analyze the competition

You most likely have a good idea of who your competition is, but learning more about their marketing habits will show you where the gap in the market is and how you can fill it. Do keyword research relating to your industry and find out who is ranking for these keywords. Learn everything there is to know about their services, products, and marketing efforts to find out what works and build your own version. With the right research you'll be able to know what the competition is doing differently and how you can do it better.

Related: Beat the Marketing Competition With Data Analysis

Create buyer personas

You are now ready to outline the different groups of buyers that will dictate your marketing and sales processes. Before you start promoting yourself further, you need to establish your buyer personas and what is important to them. Create an incredibly detailed storyline surrounding your buyer persona and what this person's motivations are. The more detail you include, the more likely you will be to target this specific audience while you put in place your personal brand strategy.

Once you've done your research and created your buyer personas, you will be able to identify potential opportunities so you can create a game plan that will guide leads through your sales funnel. Remember, targeting is an ongoing process that needs to be re-evaluated regularly in order to stay up-to-date with the audience with whom you want to connect.

Murray Newlands

Entrepreneur, business advisor and online-marketing professional

Murray Newlands is an entrepreneur, investor, business advisor and speaker. He is the founder of ChattyPeople.com chatbot builder tool and Sighted.com. Read his blog MurrayNewlands.com.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

The Dark Side of Pay Transparency — And What to Do If You Find Out You're Being Underpaid
Thinking of a Career Change? Here Are 4 Steps You Can Take to Get There.
A Founder Who Bootstrapped Her Jewelry Business With Just $1,000 Now Sees 7-Figure Revenue Because She Knew Something About Her Customers Nobody Else Did
Everything You Need to Know About Franchise Law
Marketing

What Is a Brand Personality? Here's How to Develop One.

Connect with your audience on a deeper level by giving and cultivating your brand a personality. Read here how to do so.

Starting a Business

How To Sell on Etsy in 2023: A Comprehensive Guide

Want to start selling your handmade goods online? This article outlines how to start and grow your business using Etsy.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas To Start Right Now

To start one of these home-based businesses, you don't need a lot of funding -- just energy, passion and the drive to succeed.

Starting a Business

How to Craft the Best Benefits Package for a Global Workforce

Attract top talent from across the globe with a benefits package that speaks to anyone, anywhere.

Business News

'Crying Northwestern Kid' Turned His Viral Fan Moment Into a Successful Harvard Admissions Essay. He Says the Experience Taught Him About Empathy.

Six years ago, Phillips was watching No. 8 Northwestern take on No. 1 Gonzaga during March Madness when he became a meme.