Target Audience and Target Buyers
A fatal mistake of most online shops is to target their advertising only to those who, in their opinion, need the offered product. They forget about those who actually pay for the purchase!
We repeat like a mantra that you need to study your target audience, its pains and needs, but what's the catch? Target audience and target buyers (consumers) are not always the same thing, say marketers of Halla System company.
The target audience is the ones the product is aimed at. For example, it is a baby who repeats: ‘Mum, buy!’ But his parents are the target customers (target consumers, target segment, target market) - those who actually pay. Target customers bring most of the profit to online shops, because their purchasing power is higher. And they are not always the target audience.
How to avoid confusion and use these concepts in business?
‘Target audience’ is still a media term. But it is more familiar, unlike ‘target customers’ - a term of economics and marketing. Any marketing and advertising activities should not only attract the attention of the former, but also persuade the latter.
To put it simply, when creating an advertisement, promoting a product, we need to understand who we are directing (targeting) our advertisement to, aiming the content at a certain group of people.
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The target audience is united by common interests, but the motivation of each member of the group can be diverse. Targeted buyers, on the other hand, have specific needs or wants. They may be interested but not necessarily ready to buy.
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Marketing messages to target audiences can be generic. Adverts aimed at target buyers use precise selling arguments.
Advertising bundle: targeting, design, content, trigger
A good advert generates interest, attracts attention and is memorable. Ad creative is what hooks, it should be concise and relevant to users' needs. Make sure that your advert contains a truly valuable selling proposition (offer) and that it can be targeted to both the target audience and buyers. To do this
Halla System dropshipping offers routine and systematic ad bundling:
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targeting (where and to whom)
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design (presentation, colour, perception)
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content (purpose, thought, headline that evokes emotion)
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value (material/quality/country of production/UTP),
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trigger to speed up decision making (promo code/limited timeframe/call to action).
The secrets of advertising creatives
Value and triggers are usually always easier to deal with, but when thinking through a headline, you can:
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add a focal theme (spring, new season) to the content: ‘One Step Closer to Spring’
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work on analogies and synonyms: ‘Surround yourself with comfort’;
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add hyperbolisation/reinforcement: ‘Emphasises soft manners and firmness of character’.
For example, the headline ‘Fitness equipment for a healthy lifestyle!’ is aimed at a target audience of different ages and genders - those who are involved in fitness and sports. But for target customers, the details are important: ‘Effective workouts at home with our equipment!’
Checking and testing
How to understand where an advert has failed? Only through experience. Going over and fixing: targeting problems, unclear creative, wrongly chosen messages in the advert itself, a weak website, an ill-conceived landing page.
At the same time it is necessary to track in parallel and geo-targeting of the target audience, and the behaviour of competitors. Only this approach will allow you to find the weak link in marketing and determine at what stage of the sales funnel sharply falling conversion: reach - traffic - search - order - call - sale.
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low reach: poor targeting
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problems with traffic to the site: weak creative or offer.
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few orders: problem in the landing page
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long time to clarify order details (response time): problem in the work of the salesperson or sales department
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few sales: weak work of salespeople, managers/sales department, weak offer, lack of engaging tools (promotions, discounts)
Understanding the differences between the concepts of ‘target audience’ and ‘target customers’ allows businesses to effectively tailor their marketing and advertising strategies.
Halla Systems' experts tailor marketing campaigns to the specific needs and interests of the target audience. By evaluating the effectiveness of customer campaigns based on the number of actual buyers, we segment the target audience and identify the most likely target buyers.