Imagine a day, where you have guests coming at your place. You get to be the chef for cooking this exotic dinner. You cook an authentic Italian Pizza. When the guests arrive, you serve those lip-smacking pizzas with full excitement. But then, it turns out that your guests do not like pizza but are a huge fan of Chinese cuisines. All your hard-work and time were wrapped and thrown in the dustbin.

The analogy might not be that great, but hopefully the point is put across loud and clear, which is- “Knowing Your Audience”. In any service, having a thorough knowledge of the demographics that you are catering to is important. But in the field of advertising, it is crucial. A thorough research about the people you are going to sell the product is the key to a successful advertisement and is going to take you a long way.

Technically, a ‘Target Group’ is the segment of people where you concentrate on a certain group of consumers within the large chunk of audience. It describes a section of customers defined by their behavior patterns that seems to fit for the product. The more a brand has deep understanding of its target group, the better they can focus on targeting its potential customers.

But the question is, how do you get to know your TG? One simple answer to that is, ‘Research’. Let’s see can you get to know your TG better.

First figure out who are the people who currently consumes your product. Based on that data, reach out to more people who fit in the same category. Create a database of your existing customers with points like:

• Age: Knowing about the age group of your customers can prove to be very helpful in determining the choices and preferences.

• Location: The geographic location is of equal importance. You have to be clear what kind of people use your products.

• Financial Capabilities: Knowing about their financial condition is also important.

One of the boons of internet is the detailed analytics that we can procure through various software. They can help you get the information on who’s visiting your social media accounts and visit your website.

Looking into what your competitors are up to can help if you are doing it right. It’s obvious that you will not get a detailed information about their market segment, but a general overview can help you target the right audience.

Now, let’s have a look on how knowing your TG helps your brand outreach. Here are some points:

When you have a clear understanding of your target group, it helps you in devising the message you want to convey. Whether it be a print advertisement or a social media post, if the brand gets a clear understanding of the TG, the message can be truly effective.

A clear understanding of the target group lets you communicate to your TG only. When the message is put across, it lands on the TGs mind perfectly.

Knowing about the target audience helps you plan your media buying strategy so that your advertisements reach them in particular. The data can help you reach you customers across various platforms such as OOH, digital, TV etc…

When you identify the exact TG, you do not randomly spend money on broadcasting the advertisements and campaigns. Rather, the research helps you in targeting only those mediums which are likely to convey the message to your TG.

Knowing your ‘Target Group’ lends you kind of an upper hand. When you know your audience well, you curate the message as per their suitability, something that instantly relates with them.

So, in the end it goes back to the same analogy that was in the beginning of this write-up, ‘Knowing your Audience’. Well, it’s hence proved!!