How to Customize Your Business Marketing Strategies for Target Audiences
Ezra Cabrera | August 21, 2024
Thanks to social media, the ubiquity of smartphones, and widespread Wi-Fi access, your audience has never been larger. But with a nearly limitless audience, it becomes even more difficult to precisely target a specific demographic.
There are other factors that can make it tough for businesses right now. One recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe we’re already in a recession. In a gloomy economic climate, you’ve got to be at the top of your marketing game.
It’s never been more important to customize your marketing to reach and connect with your target audience. Here's how you can do exactly that.
Identify Your Audience
The first step in reaching your audience is to identify exactly who they are. You’ll want to hone in on your target audience with as much precision as possible. The better you know your target audience, the easier it will be to fine tune your marketing strategies to reach them.
You’ll want to look at variables that typically include:
- Demographics, such as age, gender, income, generation, and personality
- Behavior, such as product usage, spending habits, and brand loyalty
- Geographic factors, including specific cities, states, or countries — as well as climate and urban versus rural areas
Focused marketing reaches your customers more effectively because it speaks to them in specifics rather than generalities. It also forges a resonant emotional connection.
Laser-focused marketing isn’t just more effective, it’s a more efficient use of your limited resources. You’re giving yourself more bang for your marketing buck.
Do the Right Kind of Research
To identify the right audience for your business, you’ll want to do general market research that’s specific to your industry and looks at big-picture market trends. You can conduct this market research with tools such as surveys or focus groups.
But don’t overlook one of your most valuable resources — your existing customer base. After all, these are people you’ve already reached and successfully converted into customers. These people can give you precise, actionable intel on how to reach your target audience. Continue reaching them through social media or online survey tools and keep them as a customer with special loyalty programs.
Use Your Competitors
Your competitors aren’t necessarily your enemies. They can be the source of some of your most valuable market intelligence. After all, they’re doing the same thing you are and targeting a very similar audience. Analyzing your competition’s approach can reveal not only well-trod paths to success, but also clues on how to set yourself up as a superior, unique alternative.
Take stock of what your competitors do well and not so well. Avoid reproducing their weaknesses and think about how to borrow their strengths. You should also closely compare your products and production processes, noting where you have the advantage and where they do. Finally, look at how they handle their own marketing. What can you learn from them? What can you do better?
Create Goals
Once you’ve focused on your target audience, set some goals. These goals should be concrete and measurable. For example, an exact goal like “Increase the clickthrough rate by 30% in one month” is better than a more vague option like “Increase clickthrough."
Setting specific goals gives you a target to aim for, a timespan to do it in, and a standard to measure success or failure. Once the results are in, look at what you did well and where you have room for improvement. Then do it again, but better.
Refine Your Message
Once you know who you’re trying to reach, you just have to figure out how to reach them most effectively. You do that through messaging.
Your messaging strategy defines how you communicate with your target audience. Ideally, your messaging is short, sweet, and communicates your business’ unique value to your target audience. Think of the most effective and memorable corporate slogans.
Using the extensive market research you’ve done, tailor your message to land with your target audience. Remember, this strategy has to be consistent across all of your various marketing channels to build brand awareness.
Use the Right Medium
Make sure you’re broadcasting your finely honed message through the right channels. You do that by figuring out where your target audience is spending their time and going to them. That could mean television, Facebook, or billboards by the side of the highway.
Of course, different channels offer different benefits. Social media is great for establishing a unique brand identity and cultivating brand awareness, but it’s not all that good at actually driving sales. On the other hand, an email newsletter may not grow your audience very much, but it’s great for driving conversions. Make sure you’re diversifying your messaging across channels to cover all the necessary ground.
Monitor Measurables
Once you have a marketing strategy up and running, the real work begins. You’ll need to constantly monitor and adjust your strategy to maximize its impact and adapt to a changing market.
Come up with some key performance indicators to track your progress. These are simple metrics that help you track your marketing strategy’s effectiveness over time.
Businesses often use clickthroughs, website traffic, retention rates, or social media engagement as KPIs. If your KPIs are trending upward, keep doing what you’re doing. If they’re flat or declining, some dramatic adjustments may be needed.
In Conclusion
Your marketing strategy isn’t a one-time task that you set and forget about. You’ll have to constantly refine and adjust your marketing to keep up with your target audience and your competition. Like your business, your marketing will have to constantly evolve to continue to flourish or risk irrelevance.
Common Questions. Straight Answers.
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