What is… Brand Audience?
This article is from our Branding Dictionary series, designed to make sense of the sometimes confusing terminology used by marketing, communications, and brand management professionals. If you are looking for more ways to build your company, nonprofit, or small business’ brand collateral, give our team a call and we will happily walk through how Momenta can help your organization’s brand reach its full potential.
Your brand’s positioning is based on a foundation and that foundation is the target audience.
The target audience should be clearly defined but broad enough to encompass a strong working definition of the company’s customer base.
Defining your target audience as part of the brand positioning process will most likely take the longest to complete. However, understanding your audience is vital to communicating with them effectively and successfully.
It’s not uncommon for a business to reanalyze and refocus the definition of their target audience later in company growth. Often, the initial definition of the target audience is overly broad or segmented. Narrowing the definition often helps the marketplace or audience recognize that messaging is being specifically directed at recipients.
This greatly enhances messaging.
To construct a strong definition of your Target Audience, you need to have a very good understanding of who makes up this group. This requires market analysis that offers a level of depth past the obvious. It also mandates reasonable research goals within time and budget constraints.
This type of research is a classic case of “complete” being better than “ideal” because true market research is an ongoing rabbit hole. Market research never ends but the understanding of your Target Audience will continue to grow as your brand expands.
In the best case scenario, it’s an ongoing project. But you have to start somewhere.
Overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. It’s much easier than you think, once the market research is completed.
Here are some samples of target demographic statements:
- Adults 25-54 living in the southeast United States with annual household incomes ranging from $25,000 to $65,000.
- Single custodial parents with one or more children under the age of 12 in the Midwest.
- Single, urban women 18 -24 who participate in online multiplayer gaming activities three or more times per week.
- Small business owners operating service companies with 10 or fewer employees in the United States.
- Chief Financial Officers at Fortune 500 companies with an income of over $100,000 who travel frequently for work.
The previous statements could lead to Target Audience statements like this:
Old Spice Body Wash: “For the active young man who wants to smell fresh and clean after a strenuous workout.”
Flirty Girl Fitness: “The aspirational activity and clothing for fit, fabulous and youthful women who want to add sex appeal to their workout.”
Remember this guiding principle:
Knowing your target audience is imperative. Understanding them leads to success and growth.
For more reading on Brand Audience, we recommend:
What is Target Audience? (article)
https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-target-audience-2295567
10 Ways to Learn About Your Target Audience (video)
https://youtu.be/YSSEZw3Kepw
Identifying Target Audience for Social Media Campaigns (video)
https://youtu.be/Mt1Z3M2NPBk
Continue exploring our Branding Dictionary here. And please feel free to reach out to our team if you need any support or have a question about creating a new brand, messaging platform, or strategic communications plan. Our team is ready to help your organization stand out!