Target Audience -
One of the Four P's
by:
Rita Cartwright
 Do
you know who your target audience is? If you don’t know, you are not
maximizing your advertising and/or marketing efforts.
A marketing strategy blends the elements of the marketing mix, also
known as the four P’s (product, price, placement, promotion). The
promotion element involves communication, and one type of communication
is advertising. The advertising strategy combines the elements of a
creative mix. This mix includes the target audience, product concept,
communications media, and the advertising message.
In order to create an effective advertising message, it is important to
know who your target audience is. The target audience includes the
end-user, the person who makes the purchase, and the one who influences
the purchasing decision. For instance, McDonald’s target audience is
made up of children and their parents. The children influences their
parent’s purchasing decision. Therefore, McDonald’s advertising message
is directed toward the children, as well as their parents.
The process of determining who your target audience is begins with
segmenting the consumer market; finding the right niche. This process
begins with identifying groups of people with certain shared
characteristics within a broad market. The categories of characteristics
are geographic, demographic, behavioristic, and psychographic. Then
combine these groups into larger market segments according to their
mutual interest in the product’s utility or benefit. From these
segments, choose your target market. Your target audience includes your
target market. The target market in the previous McDonald’s example is
the person(s) who makes the purchase. Target audience is larger than the
target market.
Segmenting the business market is just as complex as segmenting the
consumer market. Business markets are identified by using many of the
same variables used to identify consumer markets. Additional variables
used are business purchasing procedures, SIC Code, or by market
concentration.
The product/service market consists of all types of consumers; however,
groups of consumers have similar needs and wants. Begin with market
research; identify your groups with shared characteristics; combine
these groups into larger markets; and select your target audience which
includes your target market. Before you create an effective advertising
message, it is important to know who you are talking to. Do you know who
your target audience is?
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