Where is your target audience?

All businesses have a target audience, which is a group of people who are interested in the businesses’ products or services. It may be extremely niche or encompass a large range of people. So once you have identified your target market, how do you attract them?

With a well-thought out PR strategy you can target your audience through a range of different media from blogs to television to newspapers to speaking opportunities.

But how do you know where your target audience is most likely to see a mention of your business?

Below are some questions you should answer in order to target your audience successfully through the channels they are participating in.

What is their age bracket?
If you are targeting 15-year-olds with the latest lip gloss, chances are they aren’t reading the Australian Financial Review. Some of them might be, but most will be online or reading teen magazines. Their parents may read the AFR, but you have to decide how important it is for you to reach the parents over their teenage daughter.

Age brackets can be one of the most useful things to keep in mind when deciding which media to target with your story.

Which social media platform are they on?
Not all social media platforms are the same, for example Facebook is mainly for personal use and LinkedIn is for professionals.

Don’t get sucked into thinking social media is only for the young, a large percentage of users are old enough to remember the moon landing. But social media isn’t just broken down into age, you need to think about why your target audience would use social media, this will also help you to decide which platform to concentrate your efforts on.

What are their interests?
People don’t just consume media for work or to learn something, a large chunk of it is for pleasure. One of your target markets may be HR directors from large businesses so naturally you would put your efforts into targeting big business publications. You also need to consider what they’re reading on the weekends over brunch, or listening to in the car on the way home from work? Don’t ignore platforms that are not directly linked to your target market.

Which industry are they in?
Most industries have publications targeted at them and a good PR strategy will encompass these. While getting a story in a national broadsheet is a PR win in anyone’s books, trade publications shouldn’t be overlooked. They are often heavily utilised by people within those industries to keep up-to-date with what is happening in their line of work.

Where do they network?
The same as above, different industries will have a range of networking events through associations and business groups. You should become involved; attend the functions, pitch a story to the association’s newsletter or publication; this gives you the chance to potentially be put in front of thousands of people in the industry you are targeting.

What now?
Once you have answered these questions you should have an understanding of where to target your PR activities. Start making a list of the most important places, down to the least important.

Now you can work out how much of your resources, time and money you can allocate to communicating with your target audience and on which platform. This will help to ensure you aren’t wasting your efforts and talking to an audience which simply isn’t there.

Sydney Social Media Agency, CP Communications provides specialist social media strategies as well as traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more information see www.cpcommunications.com.au