How to identify your clientele and target audience

If you’ve come this far, it’s probably because you’ve already heard about the subject and ended up not fully understanding what this term means. Well, in this article you will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of the term target audience;
• Differentiate it from the term persona;
• Know how to identify your own target audience;
• Know the advantages of having a well-defined target audience;
• Understand how to apply the knowledge of the target audience to your advantage.

What does the term target audience mean?

The set of consumers of a certain product or company is what we call clientele;  The group that generalizes the characteristics of this set is called the target audience .

Therefore, this public represents the portion of the population to which the entrepreneur must allocate the majority of his efforts, with products, advertisements and means of dissemination, since it is within this group that consumers with the greatest potential to become customers are found. .

In general, the target audience will be able to portray a group that has the same tastes and consumption characteristics, and will therefore reflect your clientele as a whole .

But what is a persona?

It is worth noting that target audience is a concept that is often mistakenly confused with persona. Persona is the term that deals with the representation and simulation of an ideal client or consumer, based on real data on behaviors and characteristics.

Simplifying a little, we have the persona as a much more specific definition , while, in the target audience, we have a more comprehensive scenario of the clientele.

Example of target audience: Young people, aged between 20 and 25, are in higher education, have an income between R$1000.00 and R$2000.00 and are interested in natural and healthy foods.

Example of persona: Jon, he is 23 years old, he is a recently graduated civil engineer, he likes to play sports and take care of his health, he is always looking to improve his physique and that is why he always looks for nutritionists to recommend the best diets, and with that, when Leave the house and always look for restaurants with natural and healthy food.

How to identify your target audience?

Identifying the target audience can be done in several ways. The most common paths are:

• Checking leads and customers already received, compiling their information;
• Analysis and market research , which are capable of making this identification even before the launch of the appropriate product or service to be sold.

In this context, it is important to talk about market analysis , which can also be called capturing market information: it seeks to determine customer demand , often using the target audience as an object of study, in order to understand the feasibility of certain undertakings. In addition, it is customary to analyze the scenario, competition and suppliers to obtain a more complete overview of other points.

Market research is a data collection tool, in order to understand the market and make more assertive decisions. A very important part of the entire market research process is understanding the target audience; however, in addition, objective definitions, questionnaire applications and selected question guides are incorporated, in order to extract as much information as possible from the region’s public.

To create a profile of the target audience, it is essential to collect a series of basic information that is capable of covering the general characteristics of the participants in this group.

Generally, common characteristics are segmented to outline this profile, such as: age, sex, educational background, social class and consumption habits. In other words, the aim is to collect geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral data.

What are the benefits of determining the target audience?

Once you understand your target audience, you will have greater knowledge of your market , better use of opportunities and, ultimately, you will be able to better satisfy your customers’ needs and desires.

How to use the target audience to your advantage?

This entire set of benefits can be taken advantage of through the application of a structured and effective action plan , where objectives are imposed that are capable of converting the reasons, motivations and data of the target audience into attitudes and strategies that improve the company’s performance.