When marketing your service, set yourself apart from the crowd by tapping into your target audience’s needs.
Let’s break down exactly how businesses and brands do this:
See Related: Your 3-Step Complete Guide to Audience Engagement
What is a target audience?
You offer a service, right?
Think of your target audience as the people who would benefit most from your product or service. Therefore, your target audience are the people you want to focus on reaching via your marketing efforts.
You’re, you know, targeting them for business.
Target customers should inspire companies’ digital marketing strategies
Target audiences typically consist of certain demographics. Those demographics can be anything from age to gender, occupation to race, hobbies to marital status.
How to identify your target audiences
So, how can you as a corporate emcee use your resources to define the target audience for your service?
Here’s a great place to start. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What problem(s) does your service solve?
- Does your service fill a certain need?
- Where and how can your service be accessed?
- What are the potential barriers preventing customers from utilizing your service?
Answering these questions will help you get a sense of your target audience.
For more target audience insights, I recommend you conduct deeper analysis into your responses.
The more specifically you define your target audience, the more tailored you can be to their needs.
So, why is it that important to know your target audience?
Investing time in understanding your target audience is an investment in your business. Yes, I’m talking actual payoff.
Long story short, knowing your target audience well puts your service above and beyond your competitors’. It helps you sell yourself.
Here’s why customers will keep coming back to you:
#1: You will meet the needs and goals of your target market
The client is hiring you to provide a product or service. You want to ensure that you deliver that service.
The best way to do this is by understanding your target audience.
With research, you will reach the audience most likely to respond to your business’ product or service.
Studying the demographics of your target audience can help you understand their needs, as well. Consider the following:
- To which communication styles do they respond best?
- Should you familiarize yourself with a particular topic they care deeply about?
- Are there any accommodations or accessibility needs you must consider?
- What kind of tone will this target audience enjoy the most?
Develop a buyer persona (I know – huh?)
A buyer persona is a sophisticated and invaluable modern marketing tool. Let’s break it down:
Think of your buyer persona as your ideal customer. But you didn’t just imagine this customer – you used research and real data to create them.
How is a buyer persona different from a target audience?
Good question!
As we’ve discussed, a target audience is typically based on demographics. It defines your target market by identifying a group of people who share common characteristics.
A buyer persona is defined by deeper research that includes the customers’ goals, personal interests, challenges, and more.
Developing a strong buyer persona will help you understand what your target market truly wants. With that knowledge, you have what you need to become their go-to service and maximize your role as event host.
What are pain points for your target audience?
Pain points are points of frustration that exist for a specific audience.
You should know what your target audience thinks of as an annoyance. Then, prove through your marketing that you’ve fixed it.
Here’s an example:
As a speaker, my specific audience may loathe audience participation. No problem – my keynote speech doesn’t need to include any!
Maybe my target audience cringes when their speaker uses outdated humor. You’re in good company – my jokes are deeply personalized to the audience at hand.
Problem solved!
#2: You won’t waste time (or money) creating too much irrelevant content
Think about the (undoubtedly copious) marketing emails you receive in a week.
Ding! There’s another. Ugh.
You’re probably receiving them because you have historically interacted with the company in some way. But…
Consumers aren’t focused on all aspects of your brand
Just because you’ve expressed interest in the brand before doesn’t mean you’re interested in everything they advertise.
For example:
A department store may offer business attire, which interests you because you work for a law firm. But they may also offer clothing for babies, which may not be relevant to you.
So why should you receive the business’ marketing emails about baby clothes?
Your marketing campaign should be focused on a specific group
The better you understand your target audience, the more effective your content will be.
The time you spend creating content and marketing materials will be better spent. Plus, your audience won’t feel like they’re being bombarded with irrelevant content.
Bonus: you will run a successful marketing campaign and save money. What could be better, especially for small businesses?
Here’s another example:
As a speaker, I may use one marketing strategy to tell universities about my graduation address services.
However, I may use another strategy to advertise my role as master of ceremonies to nonprofit organizations hosting their annual galas.
After all, those clients are not looking for the same thing. So why should they get the same advertisement?
Bonus: 5 Steps To Make The Most Of Your Virtual Career Fair
#3: Your attention to detail will boost brand loyalty
Whether they realize it or not, your target customer likes that you understand them.
You demonstrate your understanding by:
- Eliminating irrelevant content from their inboxes and social media platforms;
- Limiting advertisements for your target market to specific services aimed at their needs;
- Taking consumers’ unique experiences into consideration, from the process of navigating your website to offering specific services based on demographics like age range;
- Offering a value proposition where consumers once experienced frustration;
- And more!
Now, your business marketing strategy is becoming tailored to your ideal target audience.
As this is happening, keep an eye on a few things:
Google analytics and social media analytics
Invest in Google analytics and professional accounts for social media apps (they come with better analytics tools).
These tools help you understand how your marketing is (or isn’t) influencing your target audience’s behavior. Did your followers skyrocket on social media? Did you lose subscribers on your email list?
Identifying these patterns is vital.
Sales
Of course, I can’t stress enough the importance of tracking your sales trends. This is the ultimate way to identify a cost effective marketing strategy.
Focus on sales made soon after a marketing campaign drops to see if the campaign was a success.
#4: You will transform potential customers into current customers
One of the best parts of knowing your target audience is being able to identify valuable leads.
Who are the consumers that are new to your business?
Differentiate between existing customers and consumers who are new to your services.
Dedicate time to focusing on piquing the latter’s interest. Show them why you are a more beneficial choice than your competitors.
With the right strategy, double down on attracting new customers and ultimately expand your customer base substantially.
What have we learned?
A sound business understands the importance of knowing its target consumers inside and out. Let’s review why this is vital for brands everywhere:
#1: You will meet the needs and goals of your target market.
#2: You won’t waste time or money on creating irrelevant content.
#3: Your attention to detail will boost brand loyalty.
#4: You will transform potential customers into current customers.
This may seem overwhelming, but take your time and create your strategy thoughtfully. Do your research. Remember: you benefit when the client benefits!
Keep Reading: 5 Ways To MC A Conference So Skillfully, You’re Hired Again and Again
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Adam Christing has been called “The Tom Brady of emcees.” He has hosted more than 1,000 company meetings, special events, gala celebrations, and more. He is the author of several books and founder of CleanComedians.com. For more event tips, follow Adam Christing on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
