Lecture 2: Target Audience

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Marketing Vs. Advertising

Marketing is not Advertising but Advertising is Marketing. Marketing is done with the intent of increasing sales while Advertising is done with the objective of inducing customers.

Demographics

Demographics are the concrete characteristics of a population (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, income, etc.). Demographics don’t really provide much insight into emotions or messaging.

Psychographics are the ephemeral characteristics of a population that relate to the way a person does things and why; psychological criteria (e.g., attitudes, aspirations, emotions). Psychographics get into the emotions of the persona so that you can base your messaging on that.

Decision Making

The majority of people make decisions from emotions. They may justify those decisions with logic, but logic is not what drives the initial decision.

In Marketing

The objective in Marketing is to break down the steps involved in consuming and more effectively target the consumer. These steps include three stages:

1. the awareness stage
2. the consideration stage
3. the decision stage

Why a Target Audience (TG)?

Defining an ‘ideal persona’ can help to determine some actionable steps for marketing to that individual and in turn a larger characteristically similar group. These actionable steps should lay out how that person can interact with your brand (and why they should at all).

The goal is to:

1. learn more about the ideal customer
2. analyze their journey
3. and commit to solving their problems.

6 Helpful Questions to Know About Your TG

1. How old?
2. Where do the live?
3. Gender
4. What type of promotion do they respond to?
5. Where do they spend their time (online)?
6. What type of content works for them (online)?

Additional Resources

• Please read: Andrews, Stormie. “What Most Companies Get Wrong About Buyer Personas” Forbes, January 29, 2019
• Take a look at the 4A’s website where they profile a company titled ‘Resonate’ that specializes in market research, and generating company. It provides some insights related to how data is collected on people in real time and used to direct influence marketing decisions and strategies. Watch their promotional video below to give you a sense of what they do:
• Watch:
  a. Promotional Video from a company called ‘Resonate’ that collects and sells data on consumers
  b. Watch tips from ‘Exposure Ninja’ a Digital Marketing company based in England: