When a potential customer visits a brand’s website, they don’t just expect to find advertisements for products. They want to make their purchase from a business that anticipates their needs and desires, with four out of five consumers telling Gartner that they expect an individualized experience from brands. As digital marketers know, this feat is easier said than done.
As part of the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Concentration in Marketing program, students learn not only how to anticipate target audiences for their company’s products but also how to convert those findings into campaigns that resonate with consumers in the long term.
What Is a Target Audience?
Essentially, a target audience is a group that businesses want to purchase goods or services, per Sprout Social. According to Neil Patel, target audiences are typically defined by different datasets, including demographic information such as age, gender, educational background, purchasing power, social class, location and consumption habits. For example, Sprout Social cites a Statista survey showing that “women aged 18-24 [comprise] 18% of TikTok’s global audience” but “only 8.9% of Facebook’s worldwide users.”
However, target audiences have other qualities beyond their basic demographic identifiers. Marketers often use psychographic tools to target audiences based on their beliefs, values and interests. Audiences often want a brand’s value system to align with their own and look for indicators that a clothing or wellness brand shares their beliefs, Sprout Social reports. Writing for the Entertainment Technology Center, Debra Kaufman mentions the Nissan messaging shift after the pandemic.
Kaufman explains how “Nissan U.S. vice president and chief marketing officer Allyson Witherspoon reported that her company, for the first time, wasn’t trying to sell cars but instead to how to support consumers.” Witherspoon said the company focused on supporting “those with financial hardships and the role of the vehicle as a place to create a safe, quiet space.” Other companies did the same, including Aaron DeBevoise, founder and chief executive of Spotter. DeBevoise reported that he saw more YouTube creators making content inside the home, including cooking and workouts, behaviors that can soften the image of a brand or creator.
Other factors that can further narrow a target audience include the customer’s timeline for purchase — customers will likely take months to purchase a car compared to a matter of minutes for a home goods transaction — and what subculture or lifestyle choices have brought them in contact with the brand, according to HubSpot.
To accurately identify audiences, the American Marketing Association recommends marketers start by analyzing their existing customer base for trends and using social media tools to conduct research and customer surveys. Often, companies create personas, or fictional profiles, of their ideal customers to help marketers visualize who they are selling to when they develop campaigns and strategies to reach potential customers.
The Importance of Market Segmentation and Customer Behavior Knowledge
Brands that truly understand their audiences will ask a series of key questions, according to the American Marketing Association. Those questions include the following:
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- What problems do their ideal customers face?
- Where and how do those customers look for information online?
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- What benefits do their products or services provide those customers?
- What makes target audiences respond negatively or positively?
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Answering these questions honestly and realistically can improve marketing outcomes. Deploying personalized campaigns tailored to audiences’ specific interests and desires boosts engagement, conversion rates, cost efficiency and brand loyalty.
Later, effective audience segmentation can lead to higher returns on investment and a long-term competitive advantage over other companies that overlook niche markets or online platforms where potential customers are looking for brands.
Top-tier companies gain confidence in their brand voice, knowing they have a clear message tailored to their ideal customer. Sprout Social points to Vans, which has expanded its target audience from skateboarders to offer different products catering to surfers, BMX riders and young adults who aspire to that style.
Understand Audiences and Consumer Behavior With UNC’s Online MBA in Marketing Program
In UNC’s online MBA in Marketing program, rising marketing professionals gain insight into target audiences through the Consumer Behavior course. Students study psychology, behavior economics and marketing theories to predict how consumers respond in different settings.
In addition, the Digital Marketing course covers the latest technology for e-commerce, web design, search engine marketing, content marketing and social media marketing. As a result, marketers leave with a deeper understanding of how the marketing industry adapts and integrates technology into strategic marketing practices.
UNC’s program prepares graduates to apply the latest audience research and segmentation trends to their future careers. These insights allow graduates to stand out from the competition as they enter the rapidly changing world of marketing.
Learn more about the University of Northern Colorado’s online MBA with a Concentration in Marketing program.
