2: Target audience

OK, so now that you know what you’re trying to achieve, you need to be sure who you’re speaking to. (Forgotten what you’re trying to achieve? Go back and read Part 1: Objectives again!) Now, if you just charge in, you might think that you want to tell EVERYONE about your great new product or service. But the problem with targeting everyone is that quite a lot of them aren’t going to be interested, and it’ll cost you an awful lot of money to reach them all. So you need to reduce the group of people that you’re targeting, to increase your chances of getting business whilst decreasing your marketing spend. In other words, you need to be a bit more specific about who you want to speak to. But I could be selling snow to Eskimos here. You may have already got a super-duper marketing plan, in which you’ve already identified your target audience. If so, great! But even then, there’s still scope to refine your plans and focus on targeting one particular segment…

Timson & Blimson are educational publishers. Logically, their marketing is aimed at schools. They usually do separate marketing campaigns to target heads of department, as they’re able to make decisions on the books the school buys.

They’ve recently published two new books – Wordsworth for A level and Italian Poets for A Level. Within their marketing campaign, they’ve produced a leaflet for each title, telling teachers why this book is essential for them and their students. They’re only going to send it to heads of departments where English literature A level is taught.

By being as specific as possible, and by honing down their target market to the group most likely to want their product, Timson & Blimson have reduce their market spend and increased their chances of getting business.

Right, so you’ve defined your target audience. Now read Part 3: Finding your voice to decide on the tone of voice you’ll use to address them.

Need help to identify your target audience? Contact me!