If you don't know the target audience, marketing activities are doomed to fail. Drawing up a portrait of a potential consumer is the key to successful promotion of a product or service.
Client portrait is a collective image of a potential buyer. In the process of determining the target audience (TA), marketers need to answer the following questions:
- Does the promoted product or service solve any consumer problem?
- Who is interested in consuming this product or service?
- Where does a potential consumer spend time?
Types of target audience
The target audience has a core - a group of people who are most active and interested in purchasing a product or receiving a service. It is for them, the most promising in terms of profit, that the marketing company will adapt in the first place.
There are two types of target audience:
- Main (primary) - priority, initiating purchases and orders.
- Indirect (secondary) - a passive category of consumers.
Characteristics of the description of the target audience
The characteristics of the portrait of the target audience are conventionally divided into 4 groups in accordance with the principles of segmenting the consumer market:
- Geographic (place of residence, population size).
- Socio-demographic (age, gender, education, income level, marital status, nationality).
- Psychographic (character traits, ideals, priorities, life guidelines, lifestyle, hobbies).
- Behavioral (model of making a purchase decision, preference for the price category, place of consumption of the product).
Target customer description levels
The general level consists in drawing up a portrait of a typical customer of the company according to geographic, socio-demographic and psychographic criteria.
The level of the product group requires a study of the distinctive behavioral characteristics of the potential consumer.
The brand level complements the shopper's profile with information about the awareness, authority and prevalence of a particular brand.
An example of drawing up a portrait of the target audience
An important stage in compiling a portrait of the target audience is the collection of reliable information. For this purpose, various types of marketing research are carried out (polls, questionnaires, focus groups, "mystery shoppers", etc.). The next step is a thorough analysis of the data.
Let's consider several examples of ready-made portraits of the target audience, compiled according to the above algorithm.
CA flakes for weight loss
Irina Alekseevna, 46 years old, accountant from Rostov, average income. She is married with two teenage children. Leads a sedentary lifestyle, strives to lose weight, but occasional physical activity does not give the desired effect. She is receptive to advertising, listens to her friends and colleagues. Shopping at the nearest supermarket. She plans to give up fast food and sedentary lifestyles that contribute to weight gain. Slimming flakes, in her opinion, are great for breakfast. She believes that they will help her lose weight and strengthen healthy eating habits.
Target audience for the rental of children's goods
Anna, 31 years old, Krasnodar. Higher education, high school teacher. She is married, mother of a 1.5-year-old child, currently on maternity leave. Spends his free time on thematic ("mother") forums and social networks, participates in contests and sweepstakes for the opportunity to get the right thing for free or with a big discount. She is short of funds, but wants to give the child all the best. Wisely approaches the choice of educational toys. Renting expensive baby goods is what suits her (for example, instead of buying a sun lounger for newborns for 7 thousand rubles, she rented for 4 months for 2 thousand rubles). For her, delivery of the order to the apartment is important, so as not to carry oversized cargo from the point of issue on her own. Clarifies with the company whether disinfection of things is always carried out. He gladly shares photos of rented goods and stories about saving the family budget on his pages in social networks, recommends the company to friends.
CA football paraphernalia
Pavel, 21 years old, single. A full-time student from Volgograd, moonlights as a waiter. He is a fan of FC Spartak-Moscow. Seeks to stand out from the crowd and emphasize its belonging to the club through the acquisition of thematic paraphernalia. He cannot afford expensive accessories and branded clothing and is limited to budget souvenirs (mugs / lighters / document covers, etc.). Purchases products for himself and as a gift for like-minded friends. Attributes allows him to feel like a part of a huge football family, gives him inner confidence, and, in his opinion, makes him more noticeable and interesting in the eyes of girls.
Let's summarize. A customer portrait is a useful marketing tool that helps companies create products or offer services that best meet the needs of their customers. This concern for consumers, in turn, has a beneficial effect on the income of business owners.
